Multimedia Reporting (Noland-Volek)

Though he has performed hundreds of times, a bit of anxiety accompanies each show. Every time he gets on stage he must remember to breathe, he must remember to remain calm and he must remember to trust his talents.
He uses a technique called “positive imagery” to help combat nervousness. Up to several weeks before every performance, Vincent Gnojek, professor of saxophone and director of the woodwinds division at the University of Kansas, pictures himself on stage in front of an audience, his performance flawless. He imagines his fingers hitting every key and his tongue striking the reed in perfect time and tempo.
“Every time it’s exciting, but there is always nervous energy,” Gnojek said. “You start to know what to expect. You get used to it and perform despite the performance anxiety.”
Gnojek’s positive imagery techniques have worked throughout the years. The Lawrence Arts Center recently named Gnojek as one of eight recipients of the Phoenix Awards in the Performing Arts category. He will receive the award at a ceremony in November. The Phoenix Awards, in its 12th year, recognizes outstanding achievement in the arts.
“It’s really nice to be acknowledged by the community outside the University,” Gnojek said. “There is a lot of competition just here in the department. It’s so nice to have artists represented in all different areas and it’s so nice to be among those awards.”
His unforgettable performances have landed Gnojek shows in 10 different countries and 42 states throughout the United States. He said his most memorable venue was when he performed in Carnegie Hall in New York City with Steve Reich’s Contemporary Music Ensemble.
“It’s something you always dream about,” he said.
No matter where the music takes him, Gnojek appreciates being able to connect with all audiences.
“The amazing thing about music is it transcends culture and language,” he said. “I can go to another country and even if I don’t know the language I can communicate through music.”
Gnojek’s wife, Jane, said she enjoys accompanying her husband when he has to travel for performances.
“Traveling with him is the best,” she said. “It’s great to hear him perform in front of such a variety of people all around the world. It’s great to see him recognized for his talents.”
Gnojek has also released several CD recordings. The most recent, his solo CD “Crossings,” features classical and jazz pieces.
“My entire life as a saxophonist we have to wear many hats,” Gnojek said. “I love playing all different styles of music.”

Even though his talents have taken him all over the world, Gnojek knew from an early age that he wanted to teach. He said that there weren’t many saxophone teachers when he was growing up and he had to study under a clarinet teacher, who had limited knowledge about the saxophone. He said he always wanted to study under a saxophone professor, and when he was ready to attend college, only 20-30 universities offered saxophone classes with professional saxophonists.
Gnojek translates his performance abilities to the classroom by trying to be a good role model. He said he strives to not only help his students correct problems, but to demonstrate exactly what he wants them to do.
Steven Elliot, Abilene junior, has studied under Gnojek for about eight years.
“He is an effective performer because he is really able to communicate what the music is trying to say,” Elliot said. “He truly enjoys and has passion for what he’s doing. You can’t be effective unless you’re passionate.”
To Elliot, Gnojek’s lessons go far beyond the music.
“He is more than just my saxophone teacher,” Elliot said. He is like my counselor. He truly makes an attempt to get to know students.”
Elliot said that Gnojek could sense when his students were having bad days. He said that when Gnojek noticed something was wrong, he would take him out for coffee instead of having their usual lesson.
“He understands what is happening in life at that time is more important that some saxophone technique,” Elliot said. “He knows the importance of the balance of musical teachings and the teachings of life, especially in college.”
The Lawrence Arts Center will host a ceremony and reception to honor Gnojek and the other Phoenix Awards winners on Nov. 4. He has trips to Singapore, Canada, Costa Rica and Switzerland lined up though this summer.
"I hope to still have a long career,” Gnojek said. “I still want to keep traveling to other countries and go to as many as I can. The saxophone translates very well, almost to every audience, and I would like to continue that.”

Ted and Shirley Coulter, senior residents of Lawrence, are unable to clear off their sidewalk, driveway and stairway of the snow during the winter because they both use walkers and other health ailments. All they are able to do is place salt on the areas close to their house that they are willing to go. They have eight grandchildren, a few are able to come and clear off snow from their walkways but not always.
The Coulters mobility is often restricted during the winter because the snow and ice make conditions unsafe for outdoor activities. According to them, they do not want to take the risk of driving when snow covers the streets, parking lots, and driveways. They drive when the streets no longer are icy, but they do not stop anywhere to get out and walk because of icy patches in the parking lots.
“I can’t risk falling. One fall is all you need,” Shirley said.
The city of Lawrence and Douglas County Senior Services are the new partners for the program Safe Winter Walkways, which will match volunteers with people in need of help clearing their sidewalks of the snow and ice. The program, which begins on October 16, ensures that senior citizens and people with disabilities who cannot afford their own snow removal will have the help provided in clearing their sidewalks.
The Safe Winter Walkways program ran during two previous winter seasons. The original partner, Roger Hill Volunteer Center, was unable to collaborate with the city in 2006, because they do not have the resources to reach the senior residents of Lawrence, according to Margaret Perkins-McGuinness who is the Volunteer Center Manager at Roger Hill. The city was unable to find a partnership last year so the program did not run, according Lisa Patterson, the communication manager for the city of Lawrence.
Patterson said that the program would promote safe walkways for pedestrians. She said that the program created 28-36 matches in 2005. The partners created this program with another goal in mind.
“There was a time when everyone knew their neighbors and lived in a neighborhood long term,” Patterson said. “This program attempts to connect neighbors so that they can learn who needs help and perhaps offer it all year long.”
According to the Coulters, their neighborhood is one that is stable because the people have lived there for years, with the exception of a few house rentals. The Coulters, married for 55 years, have lived at their residence for 36 years.
Kelly Jones, University of Kansas graduate student intern at Douglas County Senior Services, said that the company decided to become partners with the city on this program because people with the company felt it is an important project. Jones said volunteers could make a huge difference for seniors by clearing their sidewalks.
“If they fall, that could set them back in terms of independent living and health wise,” Jones said.
While the program only requires volunteers to clear only the sidewalks, Jones said that her clients told her that, a few of the volunteers have also shoveled their stairs and driveway. According to the program’s outline, applicants for volunteering and receiving the services sign a waiver that releases liability from both partners. Because of this, volunteers are clearing the additional walkways of their own will, which is helpful for the seniors and disabled communities’ ability to leave their residence during the winter.
The Coulters enjoy driving around Lawrence to view the scenery but during the winter, driving is only possible when the snow is off the streets and their walkways. Because their neighborhood is stable and the neighbors know one another, sometimes the Coulters will wake up and the walkways are clear of the snow and ice, Shirley said.
“It’s like a good fairy comes sometimes, and we think it’s our neighbor,” Shirley said.

Sam Owen rides his bike to and from school almost every day. And almost every day the Albequerque, N.M. junior makes the decision whether to face the heavy traffic and skinny lanes of Bob Billings Parkway or add seven minutes to his commute by using an alternate route.

Owen lives in one of the apartment complexes west of campus just off of Bob Billings Parkway. The parkway, which becomes 15th Street at Iowa, is the most direct route to campus. But for bicyclists, riding this route is not a good option.

Members of the parks and recreation advisory board said they have been talking about the need for a bike path along this stretch of the road for more than a year. Now, for the first time in recent history, the board included the idea on its agenda.

“Car traffic on that road is very heavy,” Owen said. “And the lanes are really tight. Some people ride on the sidewalk or cut through grass to get to campus because riding on the road is pretty dangerous.”

Owen said riding on the sidewalk is illegal in some parts of the city and isn’t a good option. One side of the parkway has no sidewalk at all. But if seven minutes is the difference between being late for class or not, it is a tempting option for University of Kansas students to take. This makes it a dangerous situation for pedestrians as well.

Kelly Barth, chair of the advisory board, supports the idea of a bike path along the parkway. She thinks improving the city’s bike path system makes sense for other reasons too.

“We are living in a time where the supply of cheap fossil fuels is reaching the end,” said Barth. “The sooner people start incorporating non-motorized forms of travel the better we’ll all be.”

Donna Hultine, director of parking and transit at the University, sees a third reason to improve bike access to the KU campus.

“It seems a bit counter-intuitive seeing as we make our money off of parking permits,” Hultine said. “But we aren’t planning on building any more parking options. I am supportive of lots of options for students to get to campus.”

But both Hultine and Barth said a number of obstacles stand in the way of turning the idea into reality.

Barth said it is has long been a priority of the city officials to make Lawrence friendlier for walking and biking. But she is not sure how high this type of project would rank on the city’s priority list - especially now.

“The city has expressed they are in a financial bind,” she said. “We have to look at what is most important and do that first.”

Bill Penny, a member of the advisory board, said he hopes University officials would be willing to donate part of the land they own on the south side of the street to make room for the bike path.

Jim Modig, director of design and construction management at the University, said the city suggested a plan for a proposed bike path along the south side of the parkway to the Design and Construction Management department a couple of years ago. But a few physical obstacles along the path increased the cost of installing the path. The initial budget didn’t reflect these extra costs.

“Some of the details weren’t thought all the way out,” Modig said. “But it is really more of a funding issue than anything else.”

Modig said he and his staff suggested the city take the plan back to the drawing board. And he never heard anything about it again.

Penny said he hopes the board is taking the first steps toward regaining support for this plan by adding it to the agenda.

Owen said he hopes to have a safe route to ride his bike to and from school.
“I think it would be great,” Owen said. “There are a lot of students who live in these apartments. I think it would be very heavily used.”

Jenny Ray McGee sat impatiently in another new doctor’s office. She was back in her wheelchair. She hated her wheelchair.

But she loved football. She told the doctor she needed to get in and get out, fast. The football rivalry between her Lawrence High School Chesty Lions and the Firebirds of cross-town Free State High School was that night. And the doctor was still asking questions.

“Can you just give me another pill,” Jenny asked. “I’m already taking 12, what’s one more? None of you know what is fucking wrong with me anyway.”

The Lawrence freshman started college this fall at the University of Kansas despite her health problems growing up. Her body gets stronger every day. She said if someone saw her walking across campus they would never believe what she’s been through to be here.

Jenny was sick from the day she was born. Doctors told her parents to make her comfortable - she wouldn’t live long. Trips across country to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., Washington University in St. Louis and Children’s Mercy in Kansas City, Mo. resulted in different diagnoses: muscular dystrophy, ataxia, porphyria. But none of the treatments helped for long. No one knew for sure what was wrong with her.

Jenny was a junior at LHS at the time. For 16 years she had been in and out of hospitals. She thought she had heard it all before.

“I’m getting something new,” Jenny remembers Dr. William Graf, chief of neurology at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics saying to her mother. “If we missed this it would be the biggest mistake. But I don’t think Jenny has any of these things.”

Graf suspected Dopa-responsive Dystonia caused Jenny’s extreme muscular fatigue. He guessed Jenny’s body wasn’t producing adequate levels of dopamine. He prescribed her a dopamine pill to test his theory.

Jenny took the pill – and broke out in a terrible rash. She was not happy. She hated getting new doctors.

But Graf advised her to keep taking the pill. He also told her family to keep an eye on her and see how her body responds.

Graf’s diagnosis was correct. Hanna, Jenny’s older sister, remembers the first time she saw her sister, who was always stumbling and falling as a child, running and skipping.

Jenny and Hanna were always close growing up. Jenny said Hanna thought she was her guardian angel. Hanna said she was able to be there for Jenny in ways others couldn’t.

“I felt complete joy,” Hanna said. “This was always my wish to see her lead a normal life. I am so, so happy.”

Jenny also remembers the day. But her joy from knowing she had finally been correctly diagnosed didn’t last long.

“I went from happy, this is what I needed this whole time, to pissed,” Jenny said. ‘I kept asking myself ‘How did they miss this?’”

Incorrect diagnoses for 16 years robbed Jenny of a normal childhood.

“She wasn’t able to have fun in the ways most other children do,” Hanna said. “She couldn’t have candy or ice cream. She really couldn’t eat anything. Her childhood was ripped away from her.”

Kelsey Montgomery, Lawrence freshman and friend of Jenny’s from LHS, felt the same as Jenny when she learned about the diagnosis.

“Before, they were just like ‘Oh, we really don’t what is wrong with you, just take these pills,” Montgomery said. “I was really excited, but really frustrated too.”

Jenny started college at the University this fall knowing she wanted to do something with her life to make sure other children weren’t going through what she did.

“I know there are other children out there like me, incorrectly diagnosed and wasting away in wheelchairs and hospital beds,” Jenny said.

Jenny originally thought this would mean a profession in the medical field. But now she isn’t so sure. She knows she wants to raise awareness for earlier testing for dopamine deficiencies so other children don’t go through what she did.

And she knows she won’t be alone while she struggles to get her life back. Most of her friends from LHS decided to attend the University this fall.

“My friends are amazing,” Jenny said. “I could never be where I am at today without them.”

Jenny made it to the football game she didn’t want to miss. She doesn’t remember who won. But, she said, she will never forget the day a correct diagnosis gave her a chance at a normal life.

It is hard for Guillermo Zorogastua to remember a time when he could act his age. In 1997, when he was 12 and living in Peru, he lived the life of a typical 12-year-old boy—going to school with kids his age, playing with kids his age and being as care free as the other kids his age. When he moved to the United States that same year, he had no idea that 10 years later he would have two undergraduate degrees, a law degree and a job as a lawyer in a prominent law firm.
“I moved here [the U.S.] for family reasons,” Zorogastua said. “All my accelerated schooling just kind of happened with time, or lack there of I guess you could say.”
In September 2006, Zorogastua, 21 at the time, was offered a job at Shughart, Thomson & Kilroy, P.C. in Kansas City, Mo., after interning there the previous summer. He started his new job a business litigator at the firm last month and is making a name for himself in the legal community. Last week, Zorogastua became a member of the board of directors for an organization called KC LEGAL (Kansas City Lesbian and Gay Lawyers). Kansas City lawyers Aaron House and Lana Knedlik established the organization. They said the mission of KC LEGAL is to provide camaraderie and give queer legal professionals identity, community and a voice. Zorogastua jumped at the opportunity to be a part of the organization.
“There is now a group out there that encourages the legal community to open its doors and be more accepting of GLBT [queer] lawyers and the issues we face,” he said. “And I’m glad to be a part of it.”
House and Zorogastua met at Shughart while Zorogastua was working as a clerk at the firm in summer 2006. He said that Zorogastua is passionate about the legal field and he views the law as a tool to help people accomplish goals and to solve their problems.
Zorogastua grew up in Lima, Peru, until the age of 12 when he moved to the United States in 1997. The move did not slow down his academic career, though, and graduated high school in Wichita at the age of 16. A few months later, he began college at Wichita State University. In May 2004, he graduated with a bachelor of arts in political science and a bachelor of science in criminal justice.
He was accepted into KU’s School of Law and earned law degree last May at age 22. And still Zorogastua is not done with his education. He is just a few hours away from earning a bachelor of arts in modern and classical languages and literature from Wichita State.
Todd Rogers, assistant dean/director of the law administration at KU, said Zorogastua was a true professional even in his first year as a law student. He said Zorogastua asked thoughtful, mature questions about his career options and carefully moved toward his career goals.
“I was impressed with how he was able to take such a serious approach to his legal education and job search without ever taking himself too seriously,” he said
Zorogastua said that he finds that most of his peers think that he has missed out on his college years because he spent more time studying than being a typical college student. He said that people cannot grasp the idea that he enjoyed all those late nights studying and writing essays. He simply loves to learn and said it does not matter whether he is learning a foreign language (he is fluent in both English and Spanish and conversationally in Italian), defending someone in a DUI case or going up against a huge corporation, he wants to make every step count in his process of learning.
“Some people like cake. I just like to learn,” he said.
Along with learning how to adjust academically with his peers, Zorogastua also had to learn how to deal with age differences when preparing for his career. He said that at a social event during his internship in summer 2005, he felt that it was not necessary to reveal his underage status to the other lawyers who were drinking socially.
“I didn’t tell them I was like 13,” Zorogastua said jokingly. “But now, at my current job, everyone jokes about the ‘13-year-old at the law firm.’”
He said that even with his age difference, he has always been treated like an equal with people who have the same level of experience. Even though he was ahead of most of his peers academically and now professionally by four or five years, he said he never felt different from people his own age.
Jennifer Bacon, vice president of Shughart and KU alum, has worked at the firm for 35 years. During the process of allocating the new associates, Bacon said she made sure she was going to work with Zorogastua. She said that he had an obvious commitment to excellence from the first day and was a true self-starter. She said that his age was a complete mystery to her at the time.
“It didn’t even cross my mind. Someone had to actually tell me how old he was,” she said. “I remember that I actually said, ‘No way!’ when I found out he was 22.”
Still, when Zorogastua visits his home in Wichita and his four-year-old niece has her friends over to play, he said he typically ends up playing with them. He said he finds it more fulfilling than socializing with his parents and his other adult relatives. He said the adults sometimes joke that because Zorogastua has had an accelerated academic career, he missed out on his childhood and teen years.
“I really don’t feel that way, but I guess you could say that from the way I do certain things,” Zorogastua said. “To be honest, I really don’t think about my age all that much.”

Matt Hirschfeld, 316-258-0172, matt587@ku.edu

Source List

Guillermo Zorogastua, 316-393-1606, gzorogastua@stklaw.com
Todd Rogers, 785-864-9257, tarogers@ku.edu
Lana Knedlik, 816-691-3248, lknedlik@stinson.com
Aaron House, 816-283-4664, aaron.house@husch.com
Jennifer Bacon, 816-421-3355, jbacon@stklaw.com

From medicine to education. From Romania to Lawrence, Kansas. From sick people to students. Mugur Geana left his job as a general practitioner in Bucharest, Romania for a quiet office on the third floor of Stauffer-Flint.
Geana, his wife Anca and their son (who is now a freshman at KU) left Romania in 2001 and moved to Columbia, Mo. to complete their degrees at Mizzou. Geana earned his PhD in mass communications and Anca started an MBA program.
“I had to adjust to being a student again in a foreign country, along with dealing with a new culture and a plethora of new information,” she said.

Geana felt that practicing medicine didn’t give him enough time with his family and he had always been interested in health communications.
“Getting information to physicians about what’s new in the medical field is just as important as practicing medicine,” he said.
After Geana and Anca received their degrees, KU recruited Geana to teach strategic communications.
Ann Brill, dean of the School of Journalism, felt his previous career set him apart.
“Dr. Geana is a rare find,” she said. “ I was impressed with his intellect, his dedication to research and teaching, and his collegiality.”
Geana eventually decided to come to KU because it allowed him to pursue his passion for research. He was amazed at the amount of support KU had for research and he, “always considered himself more of a researcher than a teacher.”

Geana believes that medicine and strategic communications go hand in hand. He said that strategic campaigns are the same as diagnostics and that differential diagnostics are the same as markets and competitions.
“The two professions are actually not that different,” Anca said.
“His new ‘patients’ are his students, whom he teaches and guides, just as a physician gives advice to patients.”
A month ago, after receiving sponsorship from the journalism school, Geana opened the Experimental Research Lab in Stauffer-Flint, which studies psychophysiological responses to media messages.
“It is an innovative, modern and somewhat unusual approach to studying the impact of media messages,” Geana said. “Its existence will facilitate learning by students interested in experimental research and could be a real asset for our future doctoral program.”
The lab, located on the third floor of Stauffer-Flint, is in the same room as Geana’s office. A La-Z-Boy sits in the middle of the room while a small TV rests on a table in the corner. Research participants view various media while sensors attached to their skin record any physiological changes (such as variations of hearth rate or changes in skin conductance potentials).
One of Geana’s graduate students and research assistants, Joseph Erba, said the lab is an important addition Geana’s research.
“It doesn’t just test what people think,” Erba said. “It tests how people physiologically respond to stimuli.”
The lab can provide message testing services for local advertising agencies and increase the community outreach of the journalism school. Crystal Lumpkins, assistant professor of strategic communications, said the lab will benefit all of KU.
“The lab has so much potential to open up doors for both students and faculty,” she said. “It enables the school to possibly partner with other disciplines on campus and exposes students to physiological scientific research.”
KU also awarded Geana with a research grant. He conducted a focus group in Pittsburg, Kan. to find out how and where medically underserved areas are getting their medical information, with focus on colon cancer.
In regards to whether he misses practicing medicine, Geana said there are aspects of medicine that translate to teaching and doing research.
“My favorite part of being a physician was the inquiry, the challenge to put a diagnosis and find a treatment and the satisfaction of succeeding in helping a patient,” he said. This is very similar with preparing a strategic communication plan; furthermore being able to teach and learn from students is just as satisfying.
Geana said that student-teacher interaction is a two-way communication.
“Sometimes I learn from them more than they learn from me,” he said.
Joseph Erba appreciates the diversity Geana contributes.
“As a professor he is different than most American professors,” he said. “He brings a European aspect to the classroom.”
Crystal Lumpkins said that Geana has what it takes to make students successful in strategic communications.
“Our field is still evolving and that is what our students will need to succeed - hands on experience and the command of concepts and principles that go along with it,” she said.
Geana said the key to being a successful teacher and researcher is constant curiosity.
"If you stop being curious, you should retire," he said.

Lawrence - Nathan Towns, a sophomore in the School of Fine Arts, seems like a typical, shy, 20-year-old college student. But not every typical, shy, 20-year-old college student has written a score for a Sundance Film Festival winning director.
Towns approached Kevin Willmott, film director and associate professor for the Department of Theater and Film at the University of Kansas, about writing the score for his latest movie “Bunker Hill” in May 2007.
Willmott accepted the offer after he heard some of Towns’ music compositions.
“I’ll be relieved when the movie is done,” Towns said. “And I’m excited to hear what people think about the music.”
Towns went to Los Angeles for a youth music scoring program through Grammy Camp this summer. He applied the last two years and was accepted both times; only eight students earn spots each year.
The program offered Towns the chance to score the music for three newly finished Twentieth Century Fox films. Students are shown three-minute clips of the films, without the scores, and they then compose their own in one week.
“After doing a full-length film score for Kevin Willmott, three minutes in a week was nothing,” Towns said. “I was able to put a lot of quality work into it and the senior vice president of Fox Music said he liked my score more than the one that made it into the movie.”
Towns realized his passion for composing scores after Scott Murphy, associate professor of music, spoke about movie scoring to students at Southwest Junior High, where Towns attended school.
Towns is taking a music theory course from Murphy this semester.
“I remember this little nerdy kid wanted to play some of his music for me. He had so much energy for music,” Murphy said. “I am humbled by the fact that my presentation inspired him to get into music scoring, especially because he does it so well. He is obviously a gifted composer.”
Music composition is not the only area in which Towns is gifted. He is also extremely bright. His parents discovered this at an early age.
“At a second-grade parent-teacher conference, his teacher asked how Nathan knew so much about Russian history. I said I didn’t know,” said Bill Towns, Nathan’s father. “Later that week when I was cleaning his room, I found one of my old college textbooks. He had been reading a college-level Russian history book.”
Towns entered the gifted program at Centennial Elementary School shortly after the conference.
Marilyn Ruggles, a retired gifted education teacher, taught Towns in fourth through sixth grades.
“Focusing was hard for Nathan when he was younger because he loved challenges and had so many interests,” Ruggles said. “I always thought he had so much potential.”
Towns most recently focused on the score for “Bunker Hill,” where he worked with musician and composer Kelley Hunt, originally from Lawrence.
“I felt that it didn't take long at all to find our own rhythm working together and that, after awhile, we sort of talked in shorthand and knew what each other meant,” Hunt said. “We both kept focused and yet open to each other's ideas.”
“Bunker Hill” is in its final stages of production, but does not have a release date. Whatever the release date, Towns plans to be at the premier.

Madeline Hyden
Government story
October 9, 2007

This weekend, authors and performers from across the country will participate in the River City Reading Festival, Lawrence’s first reading festival, which is expected to have nearly 2,000 attendees.
The festival, which will be held at the Lawrence Arts Center, has been in the works for nearly a year. Altrusa International Inc. of Lawrence, a business organization that provides service projects for the community and promotes literacy, teamed with other local sponsors, such as the Lawrence Public Library, to put the festival together.
Kassie Edwards, member of Altrusa International and Chair of the festival’s steering committee, visited a reading festival while on vacation in Florida and decided to initiate a similar event in Lawrence. She contacted other sponsors, such as the Lawrence Public Library, the KU School of Education’s department of Curriculum and Teaching and Lawrence Public Schools to co-sponsor.
“It should be a collaborative community effort,” Edwards said.
Sponsors provided funding the festival, as well as grants and donations from the community, including the late Hortense Oldfather, the Ethel and Raymond F. Rice, Foundation, Capitol Federal Savings Bank and The World Company.
Edwards said the purpose of a reading festival is to promote literacy in the community.
“Literacy makes better citizens and makes people more aware of what’s going on around us,” Edwards said. The festival involves presentations and readings by authors, including a keynote speech by PBS’ Jim Lehrer, children’s activities and workshops for all ages. The Lawrence Public Library worked to promote the festival through its monthly newsletter and displaying the featured authors’ books all month. Library employees will also manage the children’s tent on the day of the festival. According to Maria Butler, events coordinator for the festival and communication relations coordinator for the library said the library wants to grow.
“The library has a wish and a desperate need to expand,” Butler said. “The City Commission has talked about it, but it will have to go to a community vote.” Butler said the reading festival isn’t necessarily an attempt to further plans to expand the library, but more of a way to get the community involved in what the library has to offer.
There are over 100 volunteers for the festival, including over 70 community members and college students. Catherine Crisp, assistant professor at the School of Social Welfare offers extra credit to her students who volunteer at the reading festival.
“I thought it would be a great opportunity for my social work students to be involved in the community and do something different,” she said.
The festival features authors such as Jim Lehrer of PBS’ NewHour, poet and interim dean at Haskell Nations University, Denise Low and Clarina Nichols, one of the first female newspaper editors. Many of the authors and poets have a connection to Kansas, including professors at Kansas colleges and locals of Wichita and Kansas City. The festival includes readings by authors and poets, writing workshops for adults and young adults and storytelling and crafts for children. Local food vendors, such as New Hampshire Street Bistro and Local Burger will have food stands available all day.
Julie Tollefson, director of communications for the School of Education, said the main goal of the River City Reading Festival is to promote literacy.
“If we can celebrate reading then it could be a part of the solution for the literacy problem,” Tollefson said.
If this year’s festival is successful, plans for future festivals will take place.
“Lawrence being the town it is, I would anticipate that this will continue,” said Butler. “This is just a new type of festival for Lawrence.”
The festival lasts from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Wayne Sailor does not believe in disability. He uses “people who require extra supports and services,” instead of saying disability. 


“I believe that people are given the opportunity to master challenges in their environment and provided resources,” said Sailor, professor of special education and associate director of the Beach Center on Disability at the University. “I think that the concept of disability places the problem in the individual as if it were disease and there’s no particular cure.” 


Sailor recently received the Distinguished Research Award from the Arc of the United States at its 56th annual convention. The Arc of the United States is an organization for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The national award honored his research on education of children with disabilities and project of school, which aims to benefit all kinds of students.


Sailor has taught in the department of special education since 2001. He has been a researcher for more than 30 years. He grew up in Los Angeles and received his undergraduate degree from University of California-Berkeley. He came to the University of Kansas and received his doctorate in clinical psychology in 1969. He got his first job at the University of Toronto, where he met his wife, Wendy Turnbull. 


“We had so much in common, including our world view. We are both very concerned about social justice issues,” said Turnbull, a psychologist at Children’s Mercy Hospital and Clinics. “He believes that each one of us should try to leave the world the little bit better than when we arrived.”


He worked at the Kansas Neurological Institute as a research psychologist from 1971 to 1975. And he moved to the department of special education at San Francisco State University. Congress passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in 1975. The law assured free public education to all children with severe disabilities. The state university was looking for people who could prepare teachers to work with those children.

Sailor said he entered into special education because he had done research on a method to teach language to children with severe cognitive disabilities. 


Sailor had developed the training programs for teachers of children with a disability for San Francisco and state of Hawaii while he worked for San Francisco State University.


“I got really into special education primarily because of my research interest and how you can effectively teach people skills that they may have missed because of being labeled disabled,” Sailor said. “For me there is a solution to special education. It’s through effective teaching.”


Sailor rejects the concept of disability. He believes the problems lie in the environment of children. He says changing the environment or providing effective teaching can improve children’s behaviors. 


Turnbull defined Sailor’s character as “intellectually curious.” Sailor’s interest currently goes beyond special education. 


Sailor developed the idea into a comprehensive school reform model with Blair Roger, an educational consultant in Oakland,Calif., in 2002. The reform model is called Schoolwide Applications Model, also known as SAM. Sailor, Roger and faculty members from the Beach Center have worked on the school reforming project using SAM. 


The conventional education system separates students into different class rooms such as general education, special education and English as a Second Language. SAM suggests all students should learn in one class room regardless of their different abilities. General education instructors will oversee all students in class. The program will provide tutors or tutorial sections if students need extra help to learn in the class. 

Three school districts in the U.S., including the Recovery School District in New Orleans, have adapted SAM. Sailor and his team provides training to administrators and teachers of those schools. Those schools are in low-income and multicultural areas, and their academic performance were low.


Sailor said overall the data showed the positive effects in students’ academic performance so far. His contribution to the project brought him the award from the Arc of the United States this year. 


“Dr. Sailor is an exceptional researcher,” said Amy McCart, who is a research assistant professor at the Beach Center and works on the SAM with him. “He has persistently focused on reforming education to meet children who often do not get the supports and services they are entitled to.”


Sailor enjoys teaching and supervising doctoral students at the University as well as his research.


“Probably the most exciting part of my job is helping doctoral students to begin to shape their ideas and leadership in new ideas in the field,” Sailor said. “I think that’s my chief motivation for working in the Beach Center.” 


Jeong Hoon Choi, a research assistant at the Beach Center for Disabilities, used to be a doctoral student of Sailor. He has worked with Sailor for the school reforming project. 


Choi said he liked Sailor’s approach to students and coworkers. Sailor leaves decisions to students rather than gives a direct response or critique. 


“I like his way of thinking,” Choi said. “He really respects each person’s style.”

Attention to detail, structured discipline, and a passionate spirit are the characteristics of Rick Musser, a journalism professor at the University of Kansas, which help him build his World War II model airplanes.
His hobby has continued over the years, but these characteristics easily transferred into Musser’s love for journalism. Even in high school, Musser knew he had a knack for journalism. Musser came to KU in 1976 and became the general manager for The University Daily Kansan. Since then, Musser has taught several different journalism courses at the University and now, he is in charge of the news and information track.
After 31 years at the University, Musser has announced his plans to leave and move to Rochester, Minnesota, where his wife, Denise, got a job at the Mayo Clinic as a nurse. Denise is Musser’s second wife, and they’ve been married 12 years. Musser also has five kids who are grown up and pursuing their dreams.
Musser has been at the University for so long that his colleagues have become close friends with him. Ted Frederickson, another journalism professor at the University, said he has known Musser for 28 years. Frederickson has taught at the University for 27 years and jokes that Musser and he are known by the other faculty members as the “Faculty Geezers.”
Over the years, Frederickson said they’ve gone fishing and canoeing together. He said one of the reasons he thinks they’ve gotten along so well is because they both have the same values when it comes to journalism.
“We both agree (in journalism) you need to tell the truth or run like hell. A journalist never looks away,” Frederickson said.
Ann Brill, the dean of journalism, has worked with Musser as a colleague and knows his personality. She said Musser can be a very intense individual and many students fear him because of this. However, once you get to know him, and what makes him tick, you find out Musser is good teacher and just wants the best for his students, Brill said.
She also said she has personal respect for him because a couple years ago he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. After his treatment, Musser’s philosophy on life seemed to change, and he even came out of it with a sense of humor, Brill said.
Musser said, “No one wants to have cancer, but if you are going to have it, prostate cancer is not a bad one to have.”
Former students of Musser’s also say he left a lasting impression on their lives. Mark Zieman, who is now the editor and vice president for The Kansas City Star, said he remembers one method Musser taught him to help deal with the pressure of deadlines and angry sources. Musser told Zieman to picture himself “as the numeral one, bobbing softly up and down on a quiet pond on a summer's day.” Zieman said at the time he thought Musser might be on drugs and that he was crazy.
Now when Zieman is faced with a crisis, he said, “I often take a moment and go back to that quiet pool and enhance my calm. And then I smile, because Rick probably made the whole thing up.”
Kevin Helliker, another former student of Musser’s who now works as a journalist for The Wall Street Journal, said he remembers a valuable lesson Musser taught him about teamwork. Helliker said when he was at KU, he used to be a rebel and thought he could do everything on his own. When Musser gave him an A- grade, Helliker thought he deserved an A+. Musser told him he still needed to learn how to work well with others.
“He taught me that yeah, reporters need to be independent but they really need to get along with everyone in the field,” Helliker said.
Though Musser has had many memories at the University over the years, he said it is time for him to move on. He said he will probably continue to do something with journalism because of a grant he will receive through the University. Musser said he is still working out the details but he will probably do something with training for health care reporters.
Musser has had some unique ways of teaching over the years, and no one can attest to this more than Ted Frederickson. Frederickson said Musser used to lock the classroom door on the very first day of class at the exact moment class started. The students who were late could see through the window that class was in session and would try knocking on the door. Eventually, Musser would let them in, but those students were so embarrassed that they were usually never late again, Frederickson said.
“Rick is very good at getting people’s attention. If you are deaf, you can hear him,” Frederickson said.
Musser said he’s had a long run at the University and compared his experience to his WWII airplanes. He said in WWII the most dangerous place you could be was in an airplane. Each pilot had to fly only so many missions, but they usually never made it to that number. Musser said he doesn’t want to press his luck.
“I’ve flown enough missions. I don’t really want to go through it again,” he said.
Musser said with all the “administration stuff” that he is now required to do, his job seems to have lost its fun, and it has become something he never wanted it to be. Musser hopes, however, he will be most remembered for his teaching at the University. He trusts his students will not only take away the journalism curriculum, but will be able to apply his teachings to their lives and professions.

Local community members came together on the first Monday of the month to discuss a new housing plan for the homeless. The Community Commission for Homelessness held the meeting and proposed the new plan.
The plan purposed a new emergency shelter, emergency temporary housing, transitional housing and permanent supportive housing. The CCH proposed these stages of housing for the homeless in hopes that each stage will help them get closer to becoming a permanent resident. As of January 2007, 373 people live homeless in Lawrence.
The Lawrence Shelter became the obvious choice for the new emergency shelter or the first stage of the plan. Director of the Lawrence Shelter, Loring Henderson, said the shelter had been around for 10 years and was in desperate need of more room.
“The Lawrence Shelter is currently looking for a new building,” he said.
The next stage, emergency temporary housing, will be where the homeless can stay while waiting for transitional housing or longer-term housing. For this stage, community members such as Apartment Managers Association, Grace Evangelical Presbyterian and other local church members showed an interest in building and providing one or more ETH units.
The third stage, transitional housing, will be where the homeless receive assisted housing with support services to help them through the process. The Salvation Army volunteered their interest. They said they are looking into a project for single parents and for single adults without kids. Bert Nash also showed interest and said they’d offer 13 to 15 spots of transitional housing. They are still looking for every possible funding option for transitional housing.
The last stage, permanent supportive housing, will be permanent housing with ongoing support services for the homeless. A local church showed an interest in providing five to seven units of permanent supportive housing. They said they’d be willing to provide the housing but would need stakeholders and supportive management. They are asking for a three year commitment to fund the operation.
One other component of the housing plan discussed was the clearinghouse. The clearinghouse will connect the available housing units to those in need, said Shirley Martin-Smith, a member of the CCH. The CCH said the clearinghouse is an entity that people can go to if they have a housing unit they want to donate for the homeless.
The Salvation Army, Douglas Housing Inc., Access to Services, Inc., Bert Nash and Lawrence Shelter showed their interest in either becoming the clearinghouse or collaborating with others in the process or becoming partners with someone.
The chief executive officer from Bert Nash, Dave Johnson, said they are exploring possibly partnering with the Lawrence county housing authorities in order to become the clearinghouse.
Johnson said, “Once we remove all the ‘squishy’ parts and clearly define it (the clearinghouse), we will get better proposals.”
In order for this housing plan to become a reality, the CCH and community members realize they still have a long way to go.
Katherine Dinsdale, a co-chair of the CCH said, “The inconvenient truth is there is no more city money available. We have to go to the community members to help fund this.”
However, by a vote of 5-0, the City Commission supports the housing plan purposed by the CCH. Martin-Smith said the CCH’s next goal would have to be finishing the plan by March of next year in order to qualify for some city funding. She said they plan on presenting the more clearly defined housing plan to the City Commission again, before the City Commission writes the budget for the year.
Community development manager for the CCH, Margene Swarts said, “I’m hopeful that (the housing plan) will move forward.”
Even though the housing plan still needs lots of work and devotion, local community members continue to be optimistic and show their support for the plan.
Johnson said, “We will continue to be a part of the solution, not the problem.”
Next, the CCH will have a meeting for the interested bidders on the clearinghouse. From this meeting, they hope to get a better definition of the clearinghouse and more definite answers from community members. The CCH has not set a date yet for the meeting.

At the University of Kansas, finance students gain an advantage over other universities. Recently, the University School of Business’s undergraduate program became a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) program partner.
By becoming a CFA program partner, finance students will be prepared to sit for the first level of the CFA exam, which is a three-year program that has a level exam per year. Each exam is 250 hours of study. The CFA exam benefits students interested in finance, and also portfolio management, investment research, advisory services or investment banking.
Greg Green, KU senior, who is double majoring in accounting and finance, said he hopes to pass the CFA exam and become a portfolio manager.
“The CFA Institute is the most recognized and respected name for highly competitive jobs in the investment and banking industry,” Green said.
Universities wanting to become a CFA program partner must be an accredited school and have 15 credits of coursework available that cover the Candidate Body of Knowledge topics. The CBOK is a book that helps students test their knowledge and skills and ultimately, prepares them for the CFA exam.
Some of the perks to being a CFA program partner include having access to CFA’s custom curriculum, samples of model programs, webcasts, and course syllabi samples. According to Mark Hirschey, the director of KU’s CFA program, a student in the program can receive a scholarship for the first level of the CFA exam.
Those who pass the exam will become CFA Charterholders, and many career options will become available. They can choose a career in investment companies, mutual funds, insurance companies, broker-dealer/ investment banks, consulting firms, and even research and academic institutions. The biggest percentage, 25 percent, chose investment companies, and 16 percent chose broker-dealer/ investment banks.
Green said, “Once you obtain the CFA Charter, you will have the groundwork to be qualified to work in almost any job in banking or investments.”
Hirschey said, “If one reaches the CFA charterholder title, they will have a competitive advantage over other students with just a degree in finance.”
Achieving the CFA Charter for a competitive advantage is just one incentive. According to the Bureau Labor of Statistics, the finance industry is growing and demand for financial advisors is increasing, which means achieving a CFA Charter may be the only thing that sets someone above the rest.
The overall employment for certain jobs in the finance industry will increase over the years, according to the Bureau Labor of Statistics. The increase is partly because baby boomers are starting to retire, as well as, an overall wealthier population.
As the industry grows, so does the demand on universities to have the highest quality of education for students to progress in the field. Only 35 universities meet the CFA’s standards, and they are listed on its Web site.
“Having CFA is an advantage because it levels the playing field between candidates who might have otherwise had an advantage because of which school they attended,” Green said.
The program helps prepare finance students for the CFA exam, and gets them one step closer to earning the CFA charter.

Douglas County will Update Long-Range Transportation Plan

Sachiko Miyakawa

Transportation 2030, Douglas County’s long-range transportation plan, will begin identifying the residents’ concerns. The committee members of Transportation 2030 will review public comments at the meeting on October 11. The members will also discuss the results of traffic modeling done by Kansas Department of Transportation and future work for the committee.

The Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Department updates its long-term transportation plan every five years. The committee will submit the proposal to the Federal Highway Administration at the end of November to receive federal funding. The Transportation 2030 known as “T2030” covers automobile, pedestrian, public transit and bicycle transportation.

“It will impact how people go to work or go to school or how they live,” said
Anson Gock, senior transportation planner for the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Department.

The T2030 committee hosted public meetings in Lawrence, Eudora and Baldwin City in the past month to discuss problems with the residents. The residents can also submit their concerns on the T2030 Web site. The committee will form the plan based on the residents’ concerns and the committee’s recommendations.

Lisa Harris, the chair of the T2030 committee, said more than 40 people attended the public meeting in Lawrence. Their requests ranged from an increase of bicycle lanes and routes to sidewalk maintenance. They also asked for the improvement in public transit and traffic congestion. She said the committee would discuss the possibility of widening roads and changing the signal timing to relieve congestion on Thursday. The meeting will also cover constructing the bicycle path between K-10 and I-70 and coordinating transit between Lawrence and Topeka on Thursday.

Harris said T2030 aimed to fix the problems that had not been solved in the past decades such as traffic congestion. She said the plan should also provide appropriate facilities and sidewalks to newly developed areas.

“I think transportation is one of the most important things in the community, and its development is important for the quality of it life,” Harris said. “The goal is to make it safer and more convenient.”

Cliff Galante, administrator of Lawrence public transit and member of the T2030 committee, addressed the vision of future transportation.

Some people complained about traffic congestion on Lawrence’s roads. Galante said traffic congestion would continue to increase along with the community growth in Lawrence by 2030.

“The challenge for us is, as a community, how do we keep pace with the growth in terms of being able to put down the infrastructure to maintain good traffic flow in our community. That’s very difficult,” Galante said. “Then you have to look at alternatives. Those alternatives include transit, bikeways, pedestrian sidewalks to move people.”

Galante said reinforcing the transit system will attract more people to the city. Companies may want to locate their businesses in the community, where employees can go to work without driving.

Galante said cooperating with KU transit is one of the big issues in the T2030 committee. He said the partnership will enable them to provide cost and service efficiency. It will benefit University of Kansas students and faculty. It will help reduce the numbers of drivers and need for parking facilities on campus.

Galante said he also recommended the committee to consider the land use for transit and transit service for the elderly. U.S. News & World Reports has recently ranked Lawrence as one of the “Best Places to Retire.” Galente cited the news and said Lawrence public transit should prepare for the growing need of paratransit, service for people who cannot ride fixed-route buses because of a disability.

Eric Struckhoff participated in T2030 as the chair of Lawrence Douglas County Bicycle Advisory Committee. Struckhoff said riding a bicycle can be an alternative to driving a car and relieve congestion in the community. He encourages people to ride a bicycle.

While Struckhoff works on improving facilities, he tries to raise people’s awareness of bicycles. He said he thinks the University does not have enough bicycle facilities. The facilities plan of T2030 covers the campus area, including the installment of the bike lane behind Watson Library. He said the University hesitated to adopt the plan, but he would like to see the University install the facilities and raise awareness of bicycles on campus.

“In Lawrence, we have good motorists and good cyclists and our roads are good shape,” Struckhoff said. “This is a good place to ride a bike. We have a lot of bike riders, which increase awareness and increase safety.”

The completed, final plan for the new sewage plant, better known as the Wakarusa Water Reclamation Facility, was approved 10-0 in a recent planning commission meeting. This facility will include many entities in the 537 acres of agricultural land it will be using in southeast Lawrence along the Wakarusa River.
According to project engineer Mike Lawless, this project is being planned proactively so the city can be ready when growth in the Lawrence area occurs. “In a situation where we are planning for the future of the city, it will be more cost effective as opposed to reacting to it when the growth comes,” Lawless said. If the city were to react to growth when it comes, there would be many more problems for the community.
Richard Hird, the county appointee for the Lawrence-Douglas County Metropolitan Planning Commission, was interested in what would be built on this large amount of agricultural property. Many of the residents in the southeast Lawrence area are also concerned. “I am curious to know why the builders will need 537 acres for the facility,” Hird said.
Mary Miller, current planner for Lawrence, is mainly on the planning side but is invited to all the meetings for the people working on the construction. She believes the project has been very thorough and all the background work has been done in order to make this project a successful one. “They have been looking for years to pick the best places and this location does not disrupt any residents,” Miller said, “they (the planners) have definitely been doing their homework.”
Lawless said that the water reclamation facility will be a more improved version of the current system. “We are going with a little bit different plan to help reduce nutrient loadings on the river,” he said. The new structure will have a slightly different process of water to help meet both the current and future plans.
The facility will only take up a small portion of the land. The builders have also left space to expand if needed in the future. Another concern is the homes surrounding the area. Builders left cushion area in their plans so that neighbors around the area will not be affected by the facility. The agricultural land will be another buffer to take the in products in case of heavy rain and bad weather. If trucks are not able to get out on the land, facility workers will have the resources there in order to bring in the necessary crops.
The community will also be benefiting from the establishment of this facility for its own enjoyment. Mark Hecker, the Parks and Maintenance Superintendent for the Parks and Recreation Department, has shown an interest in using part of the land. “With that amount of land there is a lot of potential for new trials and parks because there is so much room, but we have to wait and see what the utility personnel say before we can start making plans,” Hecker said.
The current facility is at East Eighth Street and serves only 100,000 people. The new facility will be able to serve Lawrence and have extra space for its growth in the future. This project is expected to accommodate the Lawrence area until 2025. The new Wakarusa River Water Reclamation Facility should be constructed and in service by the year 2011.

It’s 1940 and the Nazis have occupied Vienna, Austria for two years. Harry Shaffer has moved to Cuba from his hometown, Vienna, to escape the Nazis. He waits for his immigration visa to come to the United States. Meanwhile his mother and aunt are in Cuba waiting until the war is over. Shaffer’s father has found a place to hide in Italy. To avoid concentration camps, Shaffer’s family must separate and find refuge from Hitler’s anti-Semitic regime.
“Austria wasn’t big enough for me and Hitler,” Shaffer said. “He didn’t want to leave, so I left.”
When Shaffer arrived in the U.S., the army drafted him. With little knowledge of English, he served the U.S. Army intelligence as a German translator.
During World War II, U.S. Army intelligence tricked the enemy in order to obtain information.
“I remember sitting down with a German soldier, handing him a cigarette and tricking him to obtain the information we needed. We were never supposed to touch the enemies,” Shaffer said.
Earlier this month, the New York Times reported on a secret Justice Department document that endorsed the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency. The 2005 document authorized using techniques such as head slaps, freezing temperatures, and simulated drownings, known as waterboarding. In 2004, accounts of abuse, rape, homicide, and torture of prisoners held at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison came to public attention. According to the secret Justice Department document, the Bush administration has abandoned its 2004 legal opinion that torture is “abhorrent” and instead has resumed “brutal interrogations.”
“It’s terrible what we are doing over there. This is not what America is supposed to stand for,” Shaffer said.
Harry Shaffer, a victim of human rights violations himself, shares his opinion on many issues such as torture.
Shaffer is an economics professor, and also a storyteller. He openly talks about his experiences in war and another issue involving human rights, his controversial resignation from the University of Alabama.
In 1956, Autherine Lucy was the first black woman to be admitted to the university. About 3,000 students protested this admittance of a black woman to the university. The University of Alabama expelled Lucy on charges of defamation after she claimed the university did not provide her adequate protection. Shaffer was a member of a group of professors who protested against the university.
“After the University of Alabama did nothing to help Autherine, I felt that I could no longer honorably be associated with university so I resigned,” Shaffer said.
After his resignation in 1956, he came to the University of Kansas. He has been teaching at KU for 51 years and has no plans to retire.
“Wherever I go, I have people coming to me saying ‘Professor Shaffer, I took your course.’ Some come to me and say ‘Professor Shaffer, my father took your course,’ only once did I have somebody say ‘Professor Shaffer, my grandfather took your course.’ ”
Shaffer has published 11 books. Ten out of the 11 are about socialism and communism. The other, American Capitalism and the Changing Role of Government, is a required text for the class he teaches now.

“I enjoy Professor Shaffer’s class. It’s really funny listening to him use bizarre examples, like buying joints, to get our attention,” said Alex Carrera, Allen, Texas junior.
Shaffer teaches introduction to economics twice a week to a class of about 500 people. At 88 years of age he still hears people talking and frequently tells them to be quiet.
“I think it’s really funny when he tells students in the class to be quiet. He’s a lot sharper than people think. They don’t realize he can still hear,” said Sarah Frazelle, a graduate teaching assistant for Shaffer’s class.
Shaffer’s sharp sense of humor and intellect came in handy when he saw his future wife, Betty Roberts, in Penn Station, New York. After giving a lecture at Harvard in 1984, Shaffer had to take a train from Penn Station because of bad weather. On the train ride, Shaffer sat next to Betty and they talked for four hours.
“Harry sat next to me on the train for four hours and held my hand the entire time. When people say there is no love at first sight, we prove them wrong,” Betty said.
In the living room of Shaffer’s house is a portrait of him and Betty holding each other. To the left of the picture is a vase filled with flowers, which Shaffer buys Betty every week.
“Every time I see those flowers I think of the first time Harry bought me flowers. There was a note that said, ‘Betty, please do not allow this flame to be distinguished.’ Every thing was spelled wrong but it turned out to be the flower shop’s fault.” Betty said.
Betty moved to Lawrence from New Port Beach, Calif., to live with Shaffer. They got married in 1987. She drops Shaffer off at school every day and picks him up. Occasionally she will go to the lecture class he teaches to hear him speak and listen to his stories.
Shaffer’s passion for teaching at KU keeps him from retiring until he absolutely has to.
“Lawrence is like this blue dot in a sea of red. I’ve been teaching at KU for so long I don’t want to retire,” Shaffer said.

John Kuhn, Jamestown senior, grew up with his six siblings on the outskirts of Courtland, Kan. The approximate population of Courtland is 350. His father, Daniel, is a truck farmer. His mother, Carla Moore, teaches journalism at Salina Central high school. However, she stayed at home with John and his siblings when they were younger.
His siblings: Mary, 28, Clare, 26, Bernadette, 25, and Catherine, 23, have gone through college and Peter, 18, is now a freshman. Margaret, his youngest sister, is 12 years old. Throughout his childhood, he worked daily on the farm and is his motivation for the work he does academically, Kuhn said.
“Growing up on a farm was kind of strange. We didn’t have television as children and that, combined with not living in a town, made us a little weird,” Kuhn said. “Although, I hope, we’ve socialized a little more since then.”
The culture and population size of Lawrence are almost normal to Kuhn now. However, it took awhile to get used to being surrounded by the wealth and social statuses, he said.
“The thing I miss the most about home is the silence at night, it’s very different from the noise of the college ghetto,” Kuhn said.
His work academically, has earned him nominations for the prestigious Rhodes and Marshall scholarships. The Rhodes foundation gives 32 scholarships for Oxford University annually and Kuhn is now a finalist for this scholarship. The Marshall Commission gives 40 scholarships annually for any British university.
Three KU students are competing for both scholarships, including Kuhn. The two students he is competing with are both seniors from Leawood, Nicholas Barnthouse and Daniel Patrick Hogan. The two KU students competing for the Marshall scholarship are Cristina Fernandez, Washington, D.C., senior, and Katherine Sullivan who is a spring 2005 graduate from Lenexa.
Three of his teachers in the department of English wrote letters of recommendation for his scholarship nominations. Mary Klayder is a university honors lecturer in the English department. Klayder taught him in her English 105 class in 2004, and again the following semester. Since the classes, she has been his advisor and mentor, Kuhn said.
Professor David Bergeron taught Kuhn in a Shakespeare class; the class created an interest for Kuhn to change his major from biochemistry to English, Klayder said. Professor James Hartman’s graduate seminar on modern English grammar created a further interest for Kuhn in English and more specifically, the study of language.
“John is a passionate student, a voracious reader and thinker who questions his subjects deeply. I think that (his) energy and clear intelligence make him a great candidate for these scholarships,” Klayder said.
Bergeron said Kuhn has a sense of humor, intelligence, and writing style that made him an exceptional student in his class. Kuhn has a rare level of thinking that gives him the ability to learn details and theories both quickly and accurately which allows him to come up with productive questions, Hartman said.
“He has a restless intellectual curiosity, asking probing questions about the material and about our ideas,” Bergeron said.
Kuhn’s graduate project, when he begins graduate studies, includes researching different dialects and how they interact with the classes of society, and will begin with Kuhn researching the dialect of the 17th century. The way that people talk is the only form of discrimination that does not have legal protection, Kuhn said. There are laws preventing discrimination against things such as gender and race, but not against stereotypes that people have on the way people talk. Kuhn’s energy and mind for his project is contagious, Klayder said.
If Kuhn does not win either of the scholarships, he will apply for other graduate schools instead of being discouraged. The nominations are an honor and he was surprised when he found out, he said.
“I don’t think I’m going to get the scholarship(s) because it’s so competitive,” Kuhn said.
The Rhodes Foundation will announce scholarship winners on November 17.

by Katherine Mulder
When Brett Lawrence, gives directions to his apartment he doesn’t need street names.
“It’s right by The Crossing,” Lawrence said. “Now walk toward the old Yello Sub.”
Lawrence lives in the Hawks Point III apartment complex on Mount Oread. The 0.75-acre site is home to many student landmarks including the bar The Crossing, the old Yello Sub, a bookstore, and a burrito shop. Those businesses, along with the apartment complex, would be demolished in order to build a seven story upscale hotel according to the redevelopment plan which recently reached City Hall.
On October 24 at 6:30 p.m., the Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission will meet at City Hall to finish discussion and vote on the Oread Inn plan, which if passed would go in front of the City Commission for final approval as early as next month.
The plan states that the 90,000 square foot hotel interior would include 74 rooms, 30 for condominium use. The plan also includes an underground garage with three levels for valet parking. The plan calls for a realignment of Oread Avenue to 12th Street as a 90-degree T-intersection. A roundabout would also be added to help regulate traffic follow and speed.
The height of the hotel will not be taller than Frazer Hall. The height of the hotel is approximately 90 feet tall. The height of Frazer Hall is approximately 130-feet tall. Frazer is therefore 40 feet higher than the proposed hotel.
The developer, Thomas Fritzel, met with representatives from the Oread Neighborhood Association, the Historic Resources Commission, the University and the Alumni Association over the summer. These meetings resulted in letters which are included in the plan to express overall approval from each representative.
On behalf of the Historic Resources Commission, Carol VonTersch states that the period significance of the site hasn’t existed since 1919.
“Since that time the neighborhood has evolved into what has become what many call a student ghetto,” VonTersch said.
Kevin Corbett, president of the Alumni Association, personally elaborated on why he wrote a letter to be included in the development proposal.
“What is really fortunate for KU are the developers of the project,” Corbett said. “Every development they have done here in Lawrence has been of such high quality that I am sure this project would only enhance not detract from the area.”
The developers past projects include The Eldridge Hotel and Hutton Farms Apartment complexes.
Corbett says he has no problem publicly expressing support of the proposal due to countless requests he has heard from alumni to have a hotel close to campus. The hotel currently closest to campus is the Eldridge Hotel which is 1.05 miles from campus.
Eleven of the Big 12 universities have a hotel close to campus. Close being narrowed down to a few blocks from campus. However, only Iowa State University, Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma have a hotel located on campus.

by Katherine Mulder
Mary Chappell’s eyes may fail to see but they do not fail in telling her story.
It is no secret that Chappell, the director of the recreational center, is legally blind. Yet, it seems to be because Chappell’s professional life shows no evidence of it and personally she attracts no attention to it. In her 26 years of being here, Chappell has never slowed down. This fact is apparent in the recreational center alone, which after only four years is undergoing an expansion.
“I think this will surprise many people because the recreation center hasn’t skipped a beat,” longtime friend Ruth Stoner said.
Chappell’s eye trouble started with a water skiing accident in 1995. Chappell was at a family reunion and her cousins were driving the boat too fast and Chappell took a spill. The result was loss of sight in her left eye due to a damaged retina that could not be reattached. Surgery repaired the three tears in the retina of her right, leaving her with one good eye.
“When you hit the water that fast it is like hitting glass,” Chappell’s husband Mike said.
Overtime tears and scaring formed in that eye requiring another surgery in July of last year. During this surgery a blood vessel was nicked. This inevitably caused Chappell to undergo seven additional eye surgeries. In September the efforts at regaining Chappell’s sight came to a bit of a standstill. A trip to a specialist in New York resulted in the news that there was nothing more anyone can do unless her sight changes. Every month Chappell goes to the doctor to check for change. So far there is no change in her eyesight.
“I’m pretty darn independent,” Chappell said. “When you’re in sports and recreation that is just how you are. When you’re told to go out there you just do it. So that’s what you do, you just adapt and do it.”

While Chappell refused to let this change her life, it required a change in lifestyle. Chappell has special computer software that allows her to listen to her emails. She also has a cell phone designed for the blind that literally talks to her. Chappell gets most excited talking about Auto-Reader, a service she describes as the Disneyland of print.
Auto-Reader is a free public service offered by KU that reads all forms of printed material for individuals in need across Kansas and western Missouri. Thanks to Chappell’s suggestion, Audio-Reader now reads the University Daily Kansan and the Oread. Chappell was honored as the key note speaker at the last Audio-Reader volunteer appreciation banquet.
“What would have devastated most people seemed like a challenge to her,” Peggy Sampson Audio-Reader Outreach Coordinator said. “Her courage and attitude is an inspiration to me and I work with blind people every single day.”
In fact the only thing Chappell has not figured out how to do is drive. For that she has friends like Ruth Stoner who give her rides to and from work everyday. Stoner who has known Chappell for about 25 years was Chappell’s guest at the Audio-Reader banquet. Stoner got emotional talking about how Chappell has always been an inspiration and a teacher.
“Instead of ‘Tuesday’s with Morrie’ it’s mornings with Mary,” Stoner said.
Both personally and professionally Chappell inspires. Rick Rosenstengle has known Chappell since 1992 when she was his graduate teacher here at KU. Rosenstengle was hired by Chappell in 1993 and is now the Associate Director at the recreation center.
“To say that Mary is one of my mentors would be an understatement,” Rosenstengle said.
As a former student he said Chappell has always cared first and foremost about students. He said that she is the reason why the university has Relay for Life, the new recreation center and the expansion. In all these projects Chappell worked closely with students to make it possible and then gave students the credit. He credits her with giving leadership and guidance to students with visions before anyone else will at the university.
“Why Mary hasn’t been recognized as a Woman of Distinction here at KU is beyond me,” Rosenstengle said.
It is undeniable that Chappell has won countless awards but their number and extent remain a mystery. Rosenstengle said Chappell is involved in so many aspects of the Lawrence community that it is impossible to know how much she has done or what recognition she has received because of her relentless humility.
Chappell continues to teach graduate students today, though no longer in the classroom. Grad Assistant at the recreation center, Melissa Operle said she has known Chappell for a year and a half as a supervisor. When asked to describe her experience with Chappell she said she is hesitant because she wants to make sure to give her the honor and respect she deserves. She spoke after a pause.
“She is one of those one of a kind people who you had better take advantage of meeting because you don’t run into people like her very often,” Operle said.

by Katherine Mulder
Starting in November K. Ryan Jones, 2007 graduate, will see his Fred Phelps documentary “Fall From Grace” air on national TV.
The film will first be featured, along with Jones, as part of a story about Phelps for ABC’s ‘20/20’ that will air on Nov 16. Then the complete one hour and 15 minute film will nationally premiere in high-definition on Showtime thanks to a five-figure contract Jones signed this summer.
“Ryan is the first [KU] student to have had a film originated for a class be sold to a major cable channel,” said Matt Jacobson, associate professor of film who taught Jones. “It is the first film to garner major national attention. That doesn’t happen every day.”
Though Jones is excited and thankful for what this might do for his career, he describes his emotions over the success as a mixed bag. Jones stresses the emotional anguish that comes from documenting Phelps who is infamous for his controversial protests at funerals of Iraq soldiers and AIDS victims. Jones started filming Phelps for a school project for Jacobson in 2005. He spent a year shooting additional footage to complete the documentary gaining intimate access to Phelps, his church and his family. Jones wants to move on.
“I’ve been ready to be done with this for 18 of the past 24 months,” Jones said. “If I had known it was going to go on this long I don’t know if I would have done it. It has kind of become cumbersome because I’ve become somewhat of an expert.”
Although Phelps and his followers are generally known to seek attention, especially from the media, Jones was not surprised with their reaction to the news.
“They were kind of nonchalant,” Jones said. “I didn’t expect anything else really. The woman I talked to said ‘Well, we don’t get Showtime.’”
Jones is often asked if he feels he is helping create yet another platform for Phelps’ messages. Jones said this idea no longer bothers him.
“Yes it is giving their message a wider audience but it’s falling on unsupportive ears,” Jones said. “For me it’s just about educating people on who these people are and how they relate to our society.”
Jones estimates more than 5,000 people have seen the film including members of Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church. The film gained much if its national attention after being shown in March at the film festival South by Southwest in Texas. Jones also said that the DVD for the film should be available sometime in January, though an official deal is still in the works.
The national interest with the film has given Jones dual celebrity. Naturally, with the success of the film came professional acclaim but with that came a less expected association with the films’ subjects.
“He became very personally identified with his subjects,” Jacobson said.
Jones said his role in the ‘20/20’ story will be as more of an expert rather than a filmmaker. Jones is living in New York to further his film career and is eager to start other projects such as a film on the writer J.D. Salinger.

Lawrence’s homeless might soon have more options for getting off the streets and into permanent housing.
The County Commission on Homelessness met earlier this month to review its “vision statement” on homelessness. The vision statement, based on a January 2007 homeless survey, outlines the number of new housing units necessary to accommodate Lawrence’s homeless population. It also separates housing units based on level of time an individual would need to stay at the facility. The purpose of the meeting was to identify which social service agencies were interesting in implementing parts of the vision statement.
“We’re just trying to get our arms around the entire homeless population and see what we can do to make it work,” said Shirley Martin-Smith, chairwoman of the Lawrence Community Commission on Homelessness.
The commission’s vision statement requires 232 additional units of housing, divided into five categories: emergency shelter, temporary housing, transitional housing, permanent supportive housing and permanent housing. According to the January 2007 survey, the number of homeless in Lawrence totaled 373 adults and children.
City commissioners Mike Amyx and Robert Chestnut said homelessness had to be a growing concern in the community.
“A lot of people in the community don’t realize there are that many people in need, especially the families with children,” Chestnut said.
Representatives from several social service agencies were on hand to offer their assistance. Loring Henderson, executive director of the Lawrence Community Shelter, declared the shelter’s intent to carry out the first level of the vision, emergency shelter housing options. Henderson said the amount of time an individual stayed at the shelter shouldn’t be a concern.
“It’s not defined by time. It’s defined more by function than time,” he said. “People need to be prepared that it could be quite long.”
Other social service agencies such as the Salvation Army, Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center and Grace Evangelical Church also expressed interest in participating in the vision and offering shelter to the homeless.
Though the planning is still in its early stages, Martin-Smith said the vision would be successful only if the entire community was on board.
“We don’t have all the answers yet, but we will before the next budget meeting,” she said. “We all bring our own ideas to the table, but it’s going to take the whole community to make it work.”
A point of concern was the establishment of two services, a “clearinghouse” and case management services. The vision statement includes the creation of a clearinghouse to serve several purposes: to track the availability of units, to connect to support services such as case management, to facilitate case management sustainability, to track the provision of support services and to track and channel cash contributions.
The vision includes a case management system in which individuals act similar to placement managers for the foster care system. Case managers help the homeless find housing and secure jobs.
“Everyone knows right now the existing case managers are overwhelmed and there is lack of funding. That’s what we have to figure out,” said Lesley Rigney, neighborhood programs specialist for the city of Lawrence.
Some representatives thought the distinction and specific functions of the two services was confusing and unclear.
“I think you could get some proposals that eliminate the ‘squishiness’ and define the purposes,” said David Johnson, chief executive officer of Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center.
In the coming months, the committee will continue to assess the role of the clearinghouse and case management services and more clearly define their responsibilities. Also, the committee will ask social service agencies to make final commitments regarding the vision statement. Martin-Smith said the committee needed a final plan by the end of March in time for the next budget cycle, which begins in April.

Bob was your average young boy. He loved sports and his goal in life was to be a basketball coach and an algebra teacher, just like his high school coach. Today, Bob is an assistant professor in sport administration. But beyond that, he has made a lasting impression on students, student-athletes and co-workers at the University of Kansas.
Dr. Bob Frederick is the former athletics director for the University. He spent 14 years working 70 to 80 hour weeks, changing the sports world from the town of Lawrence, Kansas and impacting student- athlete’s lives across the country. Frederick has worked everywhere from The University of Kansas to Stanford University in California to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah to a junior college in Coffeyville, Kan. to high schools in Olympia Fields, Ill. and Lawrence and Russell, Kan. “We created a culture that people treated each other with dignity and respect. Those values are more significant than winning games and championships,” Frederick said. Although winning the national basketball championship in 1988 was exhilarating, Frederick came to find out there was more to the job of athletics director. Frederick believes that in the long run, winning is not as significant. Acting with honor, integrity and living a life that matters is all much more important. “30 years ago, I would have had a different answer,” he said.
The recent firing of the University of Nebraska’s athletics director did not shock Frederick. He knows there are many challenges that go along with the job. Frederick knows Nebraska legend Tom Osborne very well and says that people will always worship him. Osborne returned as the interim athletics director after the firing of Steve Pederson last week. “In Nebraska, that one football team is everything, so it’s a good thing Tom is back,” Frederick said.
Frederick spent sleepless nights worrying about the financial issues he confronted as KU’s athletics director. These issues never went away and are challenges for every athletics program. “A challenge now is the proliferation of sports talk shows and blogs,” he said. Any opportunity for people to say anything and have it show up anywhere has made it difficult for athletics directors and coaches. Everything the athletics director and coaches say and do is the subject of commentary. “I have the physical energy for sure, but I don’t know about the emotional energy (to return as an athletic director),” Frederick said.
Frederick is exceedingly physically fit for a 67-year-old man. “My doctors think I’m an anomaly,” he said. In the summer of 2005, he completed the California Death Ride, an altitude climbing endurance event that he trained for for six months. This was a one-day event in which he rode 129 miles and climbed 16,000 feet over five mountain passes. He has been competing in these biking events the past three summers. It all started as a result of his mother and father. They both had a history of high blood pressure and died of strokes when Frederick was only 32. He then made a commitment to physical fitness. For 24 years, he was a serious runner competing in 10Ks, marathons and triathlons until arthritis in his knee forced him to stop. But then he found biking. “That’s been such a great joy,” he said.
Dr. Bernie Kish, director of facilities and lecturer in the KU health, sport and exercise sciences worked for Frederick when he was the athletics director. “I don’t think I’ve ever worked for someone who cared so much for people,” Kish said. Kish said that Frederick is an absolute professional and very knowledgeable. His classes are very interesting; he is a superb teacher and has received several teaching awards. Students are always coming to see him and seek advice. “Students want to pattern themselves after him,” Kish added.
Frederick thanks his wife, Margey, for being so helpful and encouraging him because he is generally not an assertive person. Margey supported job opportunities that Frederick said he might not have done on his own. “She jokes with friends that I would still probably be an elementary school teacher,” he said laughing.
He was standing on the corner by Allen Fieldhouse on September 20, 1971 when they met. Margey and Bob were married in May of 1972. Since their first date, they have not been apart. “He’s certainly my best friend, he’s my hero, the most wonderful person I know,” Margey said. Bob’s most important accomplishment is partnering with his wife to raise four sons to be productive members of society. Of their four sons, two were athletes. Bob did not want to push the other two. Margey knows the boys really appreciate him because he is such a strong role model and does not let his ego get in the way. “Bob is an incredibly honest person who always has the ability to do what is right and see the big picture. It’s not just about winning, it’s about graduating student-athletes,” she said.
In fact, one of Frederick’s major achievements was that he developed the $8.1 million Wagnon Student Athlete Center at the University which added 45,000 square feet of new space, the central part being the Academic Achievement Center. He cares about giving students opportunities and this center was just the thing to facilitate that wish. In the 1990s, the University had 43 academic All-Americans. The Academic Achievement Center continues to help KU student-athletes achieve their goals and aspirations in all walks of life. “It’s really satisfying,” Frederick said.
After leaving as KU athletics director in 2001, he missed his interaction with students so he took on the role of assistant professor in the KU sport administration department. He may be most remember for hiring coach Roy Williams and proving everyone wrong or for being athletics director during the national basketball championship, but Frederick has done much more than that. He is a very unique and genuinely caring individual. He puts others before himself and touches the lives of everyone around him. Bob Frederick is anything but ordinary.

On a sunny fall afternoon, Matt Miller is grilling cheeseburgers on his apartment balcony at the Chase Court Apartments. Through the grill’s rising smoke, Miller can look across the street and see Station No. 5 of The Lawrence Douglas County Fire and Medical department at 1911 Stewart Ave. Matt Miller, Overland Park, junior, has lived at the Chase Court Apartments at 1942 Stewart Ave. since August 2005. He said he liked the short walk to campus, the close proximity to 23rd Street and the quiet surroundings at the apartments. About once or twice a month, Miller has a few friends to his apartment to play poker and cook burgers on his second floor balcony.
“I usually cook out once or twice a week,” Miller said.
But because of a new city law, Miller’s grilling days might be coming to an end. And his next juicy cheeseburger might be served with a $100 fine from the fire department.
At the Sept. 25 Lawrence City Commission meeting, the commission passed Ordinance No. 8055, which adopted the International Fire Code, 2006 Edition. The new fire code included a change that will affect people like Miller and other apartment dwellers. The new code prohibits the use of any barbecues or open-flame cooking devices on apartment decks or balconies made of combustible material. Richard L. Barr, division chief for Lawrence-Douglas County Fire and Medical, confirmed the new code prohibits the use of charcoal and propane barbecue grills on decks or balconies made of wood or other combustible materials. Barr also said the law affects other multi-family dwellings, such as greek chapter houses, and lodging houses. Lawrence defines a lodging house as a home with more than three people that are not related. The new law does not affect single-family homes or duplexes.
Barr said most additions to the city fire code are life safety issues. While he can’t quantify the numbers, he can remember numerous issues with grills and apartment fires within the last few years. He also said that Lawrence property owners and managers have advocated for this type of law for years.
“For years the property managers and property owners have called and said ‘Does the fire department have a law that does not allow cooking on balconies,’’’ Barr said. “I would tell them, ‘No we don’t, but we discourage it.”
Barr said he suggested to most property managers to ban cooking on balconies in their leases, and told them Lawrence Douglas County Fire and Medical would support such bans.
The Legends Place Apartments at 4101 W. 29th Place already had a rule in place that banned barbecue grills on balconies. Susan Rinke, property manager at The Legends Place, said if tenants use barbecue grills, they must be at least 10 feet away from the building. The Legends Place also offers community-grilling areas at designated places in the complex. Rinke said she didn’t anticipate the new law affecting her tenants.
“Residents here have always been good about complying with the rules,” Rinke said.
But the new law will affect one apartment complex. The Avalon Apartments at 905 Avalon Rd. have permitted the use of certain barbecues, according to its owner. Mary Lemerfany, owner of Avalon Apartments, said that her tenants are allowed to use portable mini-grills that use 1-pound propane canisters. She said fire officials have not notified her, but she would inform her tenants if fire officials confirmed the new law.
“It’ll definitely affect our tenants,” Lemerfany said.
Apartment dwellers are not the only people affected by the new law. Andy Mutert, Prairie Village, senior, lives in a six-bedroom house at 1228 Ohio St. Mutert lives with six roommates, so their house is considered a lodging house, and the new law applies to them. Mutert said he and his roommates had used their grill about 10 times on their two-story deck since August.
Mutert said he understands the new law, but he doesn’t understand why the city differentiates between single-family houses and lodging houses.
“I think it’s unfair because I think we’re just as responsible as a family would be living here,” Mutert said. Barr said the solution for lodging houses is simple.
“If you just move the grill into your yard, then you’re fine,” Barr said.
But apartment tenants still have questions. Miller wanted to know how the new law would be enforced. Barr said the penalty for grilling on a balcony is a misdemeanor fine of a minimum of $100 and a maximum of $200. But Barr said Lawrence Douglas County Fire and Medical is not an enforcement agency.
“We don’t cruise the streets looking for violations,” Barr said. “But if we observe it, we are technically bound to correct it.”
For a student like Miller, who lives 500 feet from a fire station, this could be a problem.
“I just hope they don’t find out I’m still using it,” Miller said. “But I’m not getting rid of my grill until somebody forcibly makes me.”
Barr envisions that enforcement will be complaint driven. If property owners call him with complaints, and the fire department witnesses a person in the act of grilling, the fire depart will issue that person a citation.
“I know that the population of people that live in apartments are going to be concerned with the government restrictions being put on them,” Barr said. “But we do it because we have fires.”
The 2006 edition of the International Fire Code, which the city adopted, is edited every three years. The International Code Council will issue the next edition of the International Fire Code in 2009.

It’s been only 30 minutes since Texas A&M beat the Kansas volleyball team 3-0 – the team’s seventh loss in eight games -- but Jill Brown knows she’s going to get a phone call. She knows the voice on the other line will be her daughter, Emily, a senior setter and right side on the Kansas volleyball team, and she knows what her daughter is going to say.

“No matter how well she played, she’s never done enough,” Jill Brown said. “She always feels like she could have done more.”

It doesn’t matter that Emily Brown finished the game with 11 kills, 22 assists, and 12 digs -- a performance that showcased her versatile collection of volleyball talents.
It’s the type of performance Emily Brown has given the Kansas volleyball program for the last four years. But on Nov. 21, the Brown era will come to an end, as Brown will play her 99th and final match in a Kansas uniform. Kansas will travel to Lubbock, Texas to play Texas Tech, perhaps an unfitting final chapter for a player who has left her fingerprints all over the Kansas volleyball history books. For the past four years, Brown has been the one constant for Kansas volleyball. Displaying postal-service-like reliability, Brown has been on the floor for every single match since the first match of her freshman season.
But Brown’s volleyball career began well before her first game at Kansas. It’s a career that has been defined by a family bond, and a story of a daughter following in the footsteps of her mother.

***

Twenty miles southwest of Lawrence, Baldwin City, Kan., sits tucked along Highway 56. Small antique shops line the brick paved roads of downtown Baldwin City. City Hall sits on the corner, one block down from the post office. The 3000-person community is dripping with small-town charm. This is where Emily Brown grew up.

“Baldwin rocks,” Brown said with a smile.

She’s heard the small-town complaints before.

“People always say, “There’s nothing to do,” Brown said. “But, it’s all I know. So, it’s not like it was like ‘Oh, it’s terrible’. It’s just what I was used to, and it was a small town, but we we’re so close to Lawrence.” And being close to Lawrence meant one thing for Brown.

“I was a huge KU basketball fan,” Brown said.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that her mom and aunt Jo were both former Kansas volleyball players. Jill Brown graduated from Kansas in 1979, and it was Jill who introduced her daughter to the game.
If her mother was playing in a co-ed league or a sand volleyball tournament, Brown was there, watching and learning. But Emily Brown wasn’t just watching. She was playing – a lot. Her schedule was packed with volleyball matches, basketball games and track meets.

“Our family was basically at some sort of game every night,” Emily’s older brother, Eric, said. Eric, who earned All-American honors in the javelin at the University Arkansas, said he remembered his parents going through more than one car driving to all the athletic events.

The mother-daughter combination continued when Jill coached Emily at Baldwin High School. Jill Brown admitted she was tougher on her daughter than most of her teammates.

“She had to be the first one in the gym, and the last one to leave,” Jill Brown said
Eric Brown, who says he likes to claim he was the assistant coach, has fond memories of his family’s volleyball bonding.

“I helped out with the team a little bit, and it’s tough being the daughter of the coach, but I think Emily handled it quite well,” Eric said.

Mother and daughter proved to be a successful duo. Together they led Baldwin High School to a second-place finish in the 2003 Kansas 4A state volleyball tournament.
Kit Harris taught Emily in English and journalism classes at Baldwin High School. He said he remembers Jill Brown dressing up like the Saturday Night Live character, Stuart Smalley, before one of those state-tournament matches.

“The best part was having that family connection. I think that’s what led me to volleyball.” Emily Brown said.

***

The final chapter in Brown’s college volleyball career is rapidly coming to a close. Brown has only five games left before she hangs up the spandex. No longer will Kansas fans see Brown bouncing around the court with her blonde hair pulled back, nervously chomping on a piece of gum. No longer will fans see her 6’2 frame soaring for a kill, diving for a dig, or doing her usual shimmy after an ace.
Brown can hardly believe it.

“I can’t believe four years ago I was in high school,” Brown said. “It seems like not so long ago.”
But Brown’s career hasn’t been completely all fairytale. Kansas advanced to the NCAA tournament her freshman and sophomore season, but has been 21-33 combined during her junior and senior seasons.

“I hate that,” Brown said. “You think, okay, it was a good when I was a freshman and sophomore, and now I’m one of the leaders, and I’m not able to get it done.”

***

Even Brown’s volleyball days are numbered, but she will be staying in Lawrence for a little longer. Brown, an Academic All-Big 12 selection as a junior, is majoring in education and has one more year left in the five-year program. She thinks she wants to get in to coaching, but don’t hold her to that. Her coach certainly thinks she has the intangible qualities to do the job. Kansas coach Ray Bechard said it was those qualities, such as the good grades, that have made her successful.

“We always try to recruit players with traits that will add value to our program,” Bechard said.
But the ride isn’t over yet. Brown still has five volleyball matches to play. Five more opportunities for Emily to call her mother and confess that she should have played better. Five more chances for mother and daughter to bond through volleyball.

“This is what I grew up with. Playing close to home has been great,” Brown said, mentioning she can’t go one home game without seeing a face or two from Baldwin City, Kan., in the stands.

Eric Brown said that’s the way his little sister has always been.

“She’s always been the hometown girl,” he said.

After receiving its scores from the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) reports Lawrence Public Schools is now executing new strategies to try to improve them. With AYP each school district assesses students skills in both reading and mathematics.

AYP was put into affect in 2002 as part of the No Child Left behind act. With this act schools give students yearly tests to evaluate their learning. The school is required to have a certain percentage of students meet proficiency on these tests in order to meet AYP standards. Kim Bodensteiner, chief academic officer for Lawrence Public Schools, said it is important for students to do well on AYP and for the district to make sure it happens.

“The tests are based on the curriculum standards that have been put in place, what children should be able to learn in each grade. If national experts and teachers throughout the state of Kansas say this is what is important for students to know to go to the next level, then we want to teach to the test so they can grow,” Bodensteiner said.

Lawrence Public Schools has received their data for the past years AYP and are now finding ways to improve for next year. The percentage of students who need to meet the proficiency level rises yearly until 2014 when 100% of students are required to be proficient. The 2008 assessments that will be taken in the spring will not allow more than 24.4% of students to be below proficiency. Bodensteiner said that although Lawrence Public schools did well as a whole, there are still ways in which they can improve.

“We’re working with the schools to look at all the student data and trying to figure out what to do to improve. Any time we have students who aren’t achieving what we want them to it is a concern. We have room to get better,” Bodensteiner said.
One of the ways Lawrence Public Schools is trying to improve is through implementing a new all-day kindergarten at five of the elementary schools. For the school to qualify for the program it has to have a certain percentage of its population be below the socio-economic status. Lawrence Public School’s Director of Instructional Services, Angelique Kobler, said all-day kindergarten gives at-risk students the opportunity to have a great start to their education.

“We are trying to better understand the needs of students and families at risk, to be understanding of their home environment. It helps to give them exposure to academic curriculum at an early age. A half-day program is so compressed, but an all day program has meaningful work and structured play, giving them an opportunity to explore in an academic environment,” Kobler said.

Kobler said it’s important for the school district to figure out what works best for an individual student. The school district is following individual growth in students. Students take a Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test in both the spring and the fall. MAP is aligned with state assessments in No Child Left Behind. Bodensteiner said the schools can take how the students do on MAP and see how they will do on the No Child Left Behind test.

“It’s an early warning system for us. The test can help us assess so we can set up tutoring or individual math instructors. It allows us to show parents and students an individual child over time. No Child Left Behind can be discouraging because a kid could improve greatly and yet they’re not proficient. MAP helps kids see how they’re improving,” Bodensteiner said.

Students aren’t the only ones in need of a continuing education. Lawrence Public Schools send teachers to courses in order to retrain and retool them to meet the needs of new students. With a growing diversity in Lawrence some teachers are required to take classes at the University of Kansas to learn how to teach English as a second language.

“It’s a big commitment on the part of the teachers. Those teachers need additional skills to teach their students. In Lawrence we have as many as 30 to 35 different languages. It’s a challenge,” Bodensteiner said.

Teachers also work with an extensive mentoring program where they are taught new models and new instructional strategies. New instructional strategies are also being taught to students studying education at the university level.

“We’re learning how to teach students in a completely different way then the way we were taught. Learning how to teach elementary math shouldn’t be too difficult, but all the methods have changed,” said Ashley Hersh, Topeka, senior in education.

Lawrence Public School district is working towards improving the students overall education. AYP helps the school district assess how to better help the students.

“We have always wanted all students to achieve and do well in school. It’s not that the law has now made us not leave kids behind. The assessments and this accountability brought about individual student growth and searching for ways to help students who are at risk in order to intervene earlier,” Bodensteiner said.

Lawrence – Scott Zaremba, president of the Lawrence-based Zarco 66 gas station chain, completed plans for opening a new “earth-friendly” fueling station at Ninth and Iowa streets, scheduled to open soon. The station would sell only fuel that contains a significant amount of renewable energy, like E85 ethanol, a mixture of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent petroleum-based gas, several lower blends of ethanol and biodiesel made from soybeans.
Zaremba started this project in Lawrence because he thought Lawrence residents would want to support local farmers instead of oil companies and the environment.
The new Zarco fueling station is not the only alternative energy project in Lawrence. The University of Kansas Biodiesel Initiative started converting KU Dining Services cooking oil into biodiesel a year and a half ago and will start testing the biodiesel on KU lawn services’ lawnmowers in December.
Susan Williams, associate professor of chemical and petroleum engineering and head of the Biodiesel Initiative, thought the new Zarco station was a great idea.
“Increased access to alternative fuels is a great thing,” Williams said. “I am an advocate of multiple sources of alternative energy because I do not believe that one source will be the answer. Each of the different types of alternative energy will have a role in meeting the energy needs of the future.”
The cooking oil, which would otherwise be thrown away, will soon power different KU services. The Biodiesel Initiative started small by first testing fuel for lawn services, but its leaders hope to someday fuel the KU buses, thus lowering school and city emissions.

“We are hoping that if the biodiesel we are producing is tested here on campus with the engines used by lawn services and KU buses, that it will be easier to convince them that the biodiesel works the same and has lower emissions,” said Ilya Tabakh, an environmental engineering doctoral student. “We are able to provide a biodiesel with better fuel emissions for a lower cost to the campus.”
Tabakh and Williams started the KU Biodiesel Initiative. William said she had wanted a biodiesel reactor on campus for a few years but never had the financial support.
With Tabakh’s help, the student senate approved $15,000 funds last spring for the Biodiesel Initiative. The Biodiesel Initiative has two small biodiesel reactors generating up to 40 gallons of biodiesel every two days, and the project just reached more than 100 gallons of biodiesel in its lab on campus to date.
“The student support has been instrumental in getting the Biodiesel Initiative started,” Williams said. “After that, the Transportation Research Institute and chemical engineering department decided to contribute funds as well.”
Dining Services also aided the Biodiesel Initiative. The Biodiesel Initiative picks up a 50 gallon barrel of cooking oil every week from on-campus restaurant Mrs. E’s for biodiesel production.
“The Biodiesel Initiative seemed like a great way to partner with students and support sustainability,” said Nona Golledge, associate director of KU Dining Services. “It was a win-win all the way around.”
Lawn services recently gave the Biodiesel Initiative two John Deere lawnmower engines to test the biodiesel during December. Testing is required because most diesel engines cannot run on B100, 100 percent biodiesel.
They can run on B20, 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent petroleum-based diesel. Lawn services already uses B5, 5 percent biodiesel and 95 percent petroleum-based diesel. By combining the Biodiesel Initiative’s B100 fuel with the B5, the lab produced the B20 the engines run on.
Ethanol has a similar problem. E85 could only be used in vehicles with flex-fuel engines. Conventional engines could only run on E10, a 10 percent ethanol mixture. A study released last month by a Stanford University researcher predicted smog rates would be unchanged or worse by 2020 if E85 became the predominant fuel in the country.
According to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition, about 6 million flex-fuel vehicles drive on the road today. The organization’s Web site lists about 90 different models that have been manufactured with flex fuel engines.
The local Crown Chevrolet dealership sold cars with flex fuel engines for the past three years.
“We think the new station will help sales because people won’t have to drive to Kansas City to fuel,” said Dale Backs, manager of Crown Chevrolet. “It will be much more convenient.”
Flex-fuel vehicles helped raise awareness about alternative energy fuels. The two Lawrence biofuel projects provide residents with multiple choices in reducing their carbon footprints.
“The more people involved in this initiative, the more interest out there about reusable energy, the more people understand the need for biodiesel, the better off we all are,” Williams said.

A new study from the University of Missouri, Columbia, shows some athletic men may be at risk for low bone density.
Researchers found that compared with men who regularly ran, men whose primary physical activity was bicycling were much more likely to develop osteopenia, clinically significant low bone density that is less severe than osteoporosis.
“Unfortunately, some individuals who believe they are doing everything right in terms of their health might be surprised and upset by our finding,” said Pamela Hinton, an associate professor of nutritional science at MU, who co-authored the study.
The researchers measured bone mineral density in 43 competitive male cyclists and runners ages 20 to 59.
They found that 63 percent of cyclists had osteopenia of the spine or hip compared with 19 percent of runners. They also found that cyclists were seven-times more likely to have osteopenia of the spine than runners.
“There are many benefits of any type of aerobic exercise, including biking and swimming. However, it is important that individuals who spend significant amounts of time engaging in non-weight-bearing forms of exercise do something extra to strengthen their bones.” Hinton said.

According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, osteoporosis affects more than two million men in the United States and nearly 12 million more have osteopenia.
“Most of the patients we have in our office are post-menopausal women. Men don’t usually think they’re at risk for osteoporosis because it’s seen as a woman’s health issue,” said Jacalyn Guilfoyle, a registered nurse at Lawrence Orthopedic Surgery.
Bicycling is popular among college students, especially with the rise in gas prices. According to Hinton, cyclists who are on their bike only six hours a week are at risk for developing osteopenia.
“I ride my bike about 20 hours a week when I’m training to compete in road racing. It’s pretty much my main source of exercise,” said Christian Beer, Wunsiedel, Germany senior.
Running, jumping, and other weight-bearing activities put the bones under stress. This forces the bones to respond by becoming stronger. In contrast, low-impact exercise, like biking or swimming, works the heart and trims the waistline, but puts little strain on the bones.
“What I found interesting about the study we conducted was that men don’t think bicycling can hurt their body. They think they’re working out, so they’re automatically healthy,” said Meghan Ruebel, Chicago senior at MU, who co-authored the study.
Hinton and her colleagues researched men because they are an understudied population when it comes to bone health.
“Men are less likely to be screened than women and much less likely to be treated. We know that more than 14 million men in the U.S. have osteopenia or osteoporosis,” said Scott Rector, post-doctorate fellow, who co-authored the research.
The effects of osteopenia can be mitigated by integration of weight-bearing activities into the lifestyle of active individuals.
“Active male cyclists would benefit from participating in activities that load the bone and stimulate bone growth and strengthening,” Rector said.
The study, “Participation in road cycling versus running is associated with lower bone mineral density in men,” will be published in Metabolism.

by Katherine Mulder
Ashleigh Garcia, Topeka junior, said she was shocked when her doctor told her that her asthma relief inhaler albuterol is essentially going into retirement due to its harmful effects on the ozone layer. Garcia’s doctor warned her that because the alternative ozone safe medication is more expensive, albuterol is becoming increasingly harder to find.
The impact of this change first effected Garcia this summer when she said she spent an hour to find and drive to a pharmacy that had albuterol in stock.
“We have to search extra hard to find it. We had to call around a lot,” Garcia said. “It is just such an inconvenience to call everywhere just to get the medication I need.”
The effects of the Food and Drug Administrations decision in 2005 to phase out the asthma relief inhaler albuterol due to its harmful effects on the ozone are finally being felt. By this time next year this popular relief inhaler for asthma patients will no longer be available. The high cost of the ozone safe, brand name replacement inhalers is creating a frenzy over the diminishing supply of albuterol as the deadline of December 31, 2008 approaches.
In an effort to help with financial concerns, Garcia’s doctor prescribed an inhaled anti-inflammatory steroid, which if used daily can reduce the need for a relief inhaler.
“I remember when we went to get the new stuff the first time we heard albuterol was going off the shelves it was about $80,” Garcia said. “Usually just for the albuterol it is about $20. Both medications would cost me over $100. It’s definitely a huge increase.”

Garcia is not alone. More than 22 million Americans have asthma. While Cathy Thrasher, the head of Watkins Memorial Health Center Pharmacy said she can’t estimate the amount of college students that have asthma she said that albuterol was one of their top 25 dispensed prescriptions this fiscal year. She also said HFA inhaler prescriptions were dispensed 90 percent less then the cheaper CFC albuterol. For students albuterol costs $20. The generic brand name options Proventil HFA costs $43.50 and Ventolin HFA costs $38.50. There is no way to tell when the pharmacy will no longer have albuterol in stock because it has received different product estimates from different manufactures. In another words, when albuterol is gone it is gone for good.
Chief of Staff at Watkins Memorial Health Center, Dr. Patricia Denning said only a handful of her patients have made the switch to the HFAs because of the difference in price. Denning understands the financial concerns of students but believes that minor budget adjustments should be made because health should always be a top priority.
“I think the vast majority of students have the means to cover the cost if they just decide to look at their budget critically,” Denning said. “Will they? Probably not because that is not in the nature of college students.”
Denning explained that HFA is a new chemical and as a result there are research and development costs that go along with getting a trademark. The drug companies try to recover these costs. So when the trademark drug makes it to the consumer the drug companies introduce it at a higher cost until they loose their trademark and then the price drops. She expects HFAs will be on the open market for 10 years before the price will drop. U.S. News and World Report estimates that by December 2008 albuterol costs will raise for patients and their insures by $1.2 billion.
This long-term financial reality is what Garcia said worries her the most. Garcia said that she would have to make serious adjustments to her already limited budget to pay for the four prescriptions her chronic asthma requires.
“I’m starting to pay for my own medications so as the price goes up it just feels like a huge burden on me because I’m a college student and I don’t make a lot of money, so it will affect me a lot,” Garcia said.
Health care provides like Denning are worried the change in cost will result in asthma patients not properly using their medications. Garcia admits the change will make her rethink when she uses her inhaler.
“I will use my inhaler less when it cost more,” said Garcia.

When Whitney Prothe crawled into her roommate’s bed one night, she didn’t expect to crawl out with a serious infection.
Prothe, Kingwood, Texas, junior, had open wounds from spider bites on her stomach and contracted a staph infection. Her roommate got the staph infection while using a public shower at Texas A&M University. Unfortunately for Prothe, she became infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a type of staph infection resistant to antibiotics. Prothe is now a carrier of MRSA and said she usually gets an infection once a month.
“My immune system sucks because of it,” Prothe said. “I get it if I shave and if I get an infected hair follicle. When I do get it, I have to bleach everything, change my sheets every day, and I can’t shave until it’s gone. It sucks.”

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study that found MRSA to be more common than previously expected. More than 90,000 people contracted MRSA in 2005, which resulted in almost 19,000 deaths.
Last month, a school district in Kentucky closed 23 schools after a confirmed case of MRSA to disinfect classrooms and facilities. Several Kansas City area schools, including schools within the Shawnee Mission School District and Piper School District, confirmed cases of the infection as well.

Patty Quinlan, supervisor of nursing at Watkins Student Health Center, said Watkins has seen its fair share of MRSA cases, and it is not a unique infection.
“MRSA is not new to the medical community,” Quinlan said. “It’s not uncommon to see in a medical setting. The goal is to prevent its spread.”
Quinlan said MRSA can spread by using the same towels, sharing bed sheets and sharing razor blades. She said that frequent hand washing and covering wounds is the key to prevent catching the bacteria.
“It is another example of why good hygiene is so important because this and other germs are out there. It’s elementary,” Quinlan said.
Earlier this month, University of Kansas officials held a campus wide meeting to ensure University departments and staff were employing the latest technology for cleaning and disinfecting facilities. Quinlan said that state health officials were not calling the increased cases of MRSA an outbreak. She said health officials instructed the University to let them know if they see a cluster of MRSA cases, which is two or more cases in a confined area, such as a dorm or athletic team.
Lawrence Magee, head physician for the athletics department, said sporadic cases of MRSA within the athletic department have occurred in the last couple of years, but couldn’t confirm whether or not any cases were reported this year. He said athletes were especially prone to contracting MRSA because they were in such close quarters.
“It has to do with skin to skin contact, a large number of people sharing small spaces, especially hot, sweaty spaces. Also, they not only have skin to skin contact with their own teammates, they travel and have skin contact with athletes all over the country,” he said.
Quinlan said Watkins’ staff worked closely with the athletic department to provide athletes with quality medical care.
“Though the years the athletic department has seen clusters of MRSA. The training room staff and medical staff compare notes and cleansing methods to ensure we are giving the best care to people on both ends. We’ve had that communication for about five years,” she said.
Magee said the department takes special precautions to reduce the risk of spreading MRSA. Before and after each use, the training staff wipes down tables with an antimicrobial solution. Athletes don’t share equipment or towels, and learn about recognizing skin lesions. Also, the department employs outside companies to wipe down and fumigate facilities to kill bacteria.
Even with all the preventative measures the department takes, Magee said athletes should be aware of the possibility of contracting MRSA.
“They need to understand that it’s present all over the country and probably to some extent is here to stay,” he said.
The Student Recreational Center is taking new precautions to control for the spread of MRSA. Mary Chappell, director of the Rec. Center, held a meeting earlier this month to discuss ways to deal with the problem.
Chappell said the intramural team sports wear jerseys during games. She said because there weren’t enough jerseys, when people subbed in, teammates would share jerseys. She said that it was likely for one jersey to be worn by four or five different people per night. The department ordered new jerseys so there would be enough for all players to have their own each night. Chappell said the jerseys will be in before the start of basketball intramurals.
“We are trying to be as proactive as possible,” Chappell said. “We are always sensitive to what goes on in the building. We try to be as health conscious as possible.”
Chappell said that the department has always tried to safeguard against the spread of bacteria by wiping down exercise machines and other equipment such as basketballs, but that it was not always possible.
“Sometimes you just miss. We try to make more of an educational awareness,” Chappell said.
Quinlan said that an intravenous IV was often the only way to treat MRSA. During Prothe’s most severe stint with the infection, she had to go to the hospital and get a central line. She now tries to avoid getting infections by changing her lifestyle.
“They told me to use exfoliating soap because it reduces the likelihood you’ll get infected hair follicles,” Prothe said. “Eventually I’m getting laser hair removal so I don’t get it anymore.”

The Midwest isn’t typically the first area of the U.S. that comes to mind when the topic of plastic surgery comes up, but the body contouring drug Lipodissolve has caused much controversy here in Kansas.

Lipodissolve involves injecting a chemical known as lecithin into areas of the body that are prone to “pudge,” such as excess fat in the chin, torso area and stomach. Essentially, it melts the body fat. However, the compound used in the Lipodissolve, phosphatidylcholine deoxycholate (PCDC), though, has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has not approved the mixture of chemicals that Lipodissolve uses.

A judge in Topeka recently blocked a regulation by the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts (KSBHA), which regulates doctors across Kansas; the regulation would have prevented most doctors from using Lipodissolve. The board approved two exceptions in April 2007 that allowed the drug to be used: First, the drug to be used for clinical research or second, the drug to be compounded for a patient in unique circumstances, such as when no other drug on the market meets the patient’s need. Mark Stafford, general counsel for the KSBHA, said that KSBHA found that the drug was being manufactured under the guise of compounding and imposed the regulation that was eventually overturned by the courts.

The non-approval was not the only issue for Stafford. Stafford said that the lack of medical evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of the drug also concerned the board.

Scott Thellman, a physician at Lawrence Plastic Surgery, does not use the Lipodissolve procedure. He said he heard about the procedure from a doctor from Brazil six years ago at a medical conference. The procedure has been popular in South America and Europe for years, Thellman said, and a few years ago it took off in St. Louis through a company known as fig. and eventually ended up in the Kansas City area. Lipodissolve is a potentially promising procedure, he said, but too many questions remain unanswered.

“I feel we owe it to our patients to continually evaluate new and existing treatments and to offer only those that meet our standards for safety and effectiveness,” he said. “I’m afraid Lipodissolve does not yet meet that standard.”

He said he understands the court’s decision but thinks it is a step back for the medical community.

“I am troubled by the fact that when the medical profession is bold enough to police itself in an attempt to protect the public, we are prevented by the courts from doing so,” Thellman said. He said, however, that if the board did not follow proper procedure in arriving at its regulation, then I can see why the court arrived at its decision.

He is also worried that the marketing has gone past the science for this drug. Do-it-yourself kits with an instructional DVD are available on the Internet for less than $300, Thellman said, and regulators such as the FDA don’t know how to respond.

Some KU students have expressed interest in Lipodissolve as its popularity grows, said Patty Quinlan, head nurse at KU’s Watkins Memorial Health Center. Watkins does not offer the procedure but can provide the students information and direct them to a licensed doctor for further consultation. Quinlan said that even with the non-FDA approval, it’s really the student’s decision.

“If body growth continues, there are always the risks from being overweight, too,” she said. “Students have to weigh their options.”
One student, Jessica Stanley, Olathe senior, does not consider herself overweight to the point of considering a procedure at present day. She is reassured, though, to see that more non-surgical options are out there for her in the future. The fact that the FDA hasn’t approved Lipodissolve does not worry Stanley.

“Because it’s been used in other countries makes me more comfortable with it,” Stanley said. “But the cost is always my biggest concern. Once it becomes cheaper, I’m going for it.”

Burning fevers, body aches, and sweaty chills can mean only one thing; it’s the flu season. For many this flu season will mean a trip to the doctor or clinic to get their yearly vaccination. Yet there wasn’t always a surplus of flu shots available.
In 2004, there was a major shortage of flu shots and many people were not able to receive a flu shot. This year, however, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates more than 100 million doses will be available in the U.S. With plenty of shots available, more people should be getting the shot, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Lisa Horn, the communications coordinator at the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department, suggests this may be because of a lack of education.
“People may think they need to get the shot, but they don’t end up getting one because they think others with more health risks need the available shots more than they do. They haven’t learned there is no shortage this year,” Horn said.
She said some other reasons people may not be getting the flu shot include: people just don’t think they’ll get sick, some are afraid of needles, some think they don’t have enough time, and others have gotten the flu shot in previous years and have gotten sick from it.
To the last reason, Patty Quinian, a registered nurse from Watkins Memorial Health Center, said everyone’s body is different and will react differently to the immunization. Quinian said there may be redness or swelling where the shot was given, and it may cause low grade fevers and body aches.
“It’s uncomfortable but it will build your immune system. Every vaccine awakens your immune system,” Quinian said.
The flu shot is not only important for young children and the elderly, but healthcare providers like Mai Do encourage everyone to get a shot this year. Do, the marketing coordinator of Watkins Student Health Services, said education is important and complacency is not a good idea.
“The flu can take you out of work. It’s especially important if you have kids because you can pass it on to them,” Do said.
Jack Winerock, a professor of piano at the University of Kansas, said his wife has asthma, and he gets the flu shot every year because he doesn’t want to risk getting her sick. He said if his wife weren’t sick, he isn’t sure if he’d get the flu shot.
“I’d want to read more about it, and maybe look at research on Web sites,” Winerock said.
Quinian said getting the shot is very important for anyone who cares for other individuals with chronic illnesses or health problems. This makes it especially important for service workers and healthcare providers to get a shot each year, she said. Though, Quinian said there are benefits for everyone to get the shot.
“For students, it is most important to get the flu shot so they won’t miss classes or work,” Quinian said.
Sommer Amundsen, Coon Rapids, MN, senior, agreed with Quinian and said she has gotten the shot over the past years and hasn’t gotten sick. Amundsen said she’s on campus a lot and doesn’t want to risk getting sick.
“The rewards outweigh the risk factors and it doesn’t take that much time,” Amundsen said.

Nevertheless, not every student agrees that the shot is beneficial. Tim Simon, Wichita senior, said he doesn’t plan on getting the shot this year. He said he hasn’t gotten the shot because he worries about the long-term effects. He said if he knew more about the shot and had more research about its effects, he might consider getting the shot.
DeeAnne Schoenfeld, an immunization charge nurse at LHD, said so far this year, they’ve given 1,760 shots, in comparison with 4,500 shots last year. Do said Watkins has given 1,100 shots so far this year, in comparison with 2,000 last year. This number doesn’t include the 2,500 shots that the athletics department gave last year.
The choice to get a flu shot comes down to an individual preference. However, Horn still encourages people to come in and get a flu shot.
“We just really want people to know they need to get the shot and that there isn’t a shortage. It doesn’t matter what their situation is,” Horn said.
Watkins will continue to have flu shot clinics throughout KU campus until November 20th, and the Lawrence Health Department will continue to give out flu shots until the supply runs out.

The Food and Drug Administration approved a vaccination for the shingles virus in May 2006, but in the past year, pharmacies began offering the vaccination on-sight without a trip to a doctor’s office.
Shingles, also called the herpes zoster virus, is a painful skin rash, often accompanied by blisters. According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shingles is caused by the varicella zoster virus, the same virus that causes chickenpox. Only those who have had chickenpox, about 90 percent of U.S. adults have, or the chickenpox vaccine, which the FDA released in 1995, can develop shingles.
Patty Quinlan, supervisor of nursing at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said that after having chickenpox, the varicella virus lives on the spinal column until the virus is reactivated, which could happen at any time. After activation, the virus travels to nerve endings at the surface of the skin causing irritation, pain, numbness, itching or tingling, followed by painful blisters on one side of the face, head or body. Shingles is only contagious when the blisters have not yet scabbed over and can only be spread to those who have not had chickenpox. You cannot catch shingles from someone who has shingles. But someone who has never had chickenpox could catch chickenpox from someone with shingles.
Shingles is most common in people over 50 and those with weakened immune systems, caused by age, stress, diseases like cancer or AIDS or certain drugs. According to the CDC, at least one million people develop shingles in the U.S. every year. Allison King, doctor of pharmacy and drug information specialist at KU Medical Center said vaccination is especially recommended in adults who live or work in environments where transmission could occur.
The National Center of Biotechnology Information did a study on the correlation between the chickenpox vaccination and incidences of shingles in Massachusetts. Researchers said that exposure to the chickenpox virus after having chickenpox increases immunity to shingles. They conducted their study from 1999 to 2003 on 1,000 participants and discovered that while the number of chickenpox cases went down in all age groups because of the chickenpox vaccination, the number of shingles cases increased due to a lack of exposure to the chickenpox virus.

In May 2006 the FDA licensed a vaccine, Zostavax, to prevent shingles. Zostavax contains the same virus as the chickenpox vaccine, only 14 times more potent. According to the National Institute of Health, the vaccine prevented shingles in about half of those vaccinated and dramatically reduced its severity and complications in those who got shingles. The FDA approved the vaccine for those 60 years or older, but it can be administered to people over the age of 13.
Zostavax’s storage requirements make it difficult for doctor’s offices and pharmacies to carry the vaccination. The vaccine contains a live virus that must be kept at -5 degrees Celsius. Once the vaccination is mixed with its diluent, the vaccine must be administered within 30 minutes or discarded.
Sigler Pharmacy, 4525 W. 6th St., is one of the few pharmacies in town that carries and administers the vaccination.
“That’s why a lot of doctors are sending patients here,” Jeff Sigler, pharmacist and owner, said.
Sigler also said that there has been a drastic increase in people requesting the vaccination in the last four months since Sigler Pharmacy became a part of the Merck Adult Vaccination Program. Merck & Co., Inc. is a pharmaceutical company that provides medical products and vaccinations, including the shingles vaccination, for doctors and pharmacies worldwide. The Adult Vaccination Program works with pharmacies and other vaccine providers to offer an alternative to getting a vaccine at a doctor’s office.
Sigler said doctors often send patients to his pharmacy to receive the shingles vaccination because it takes away the risk of the live vaccine dying during the transfer from a pharmacy to a doctor’s office.
Another reason the vaccination isn’t frequently offered and administered is its price. Sigler said that many retirement and employer insurance plans don’t cover the entire cost of the vaccination, leaving patients to pay up to $190 for the vaccine.
Bridget Gillespie, a local pharmacist, said that the cost of the vaccination could deter people from getting it.
“A lot of times it’s an out-of-pocket expense,” she said. “People just can’t afford it.”
Watkins offers the shingles vaccination to full-time students for $85. Quinlan said the vaccination isn’t common with students.
“There hasn’t been a campaign for it like for the HPV vaccination,” Quinlan said.
But she said that students traveling abroad, especially for the Peace Corps, and some KU athletics programs require the vaccination.
Sigler said that receiving the vaccination is a worthwhile decision.
“ It’s severe enough that it just makes sense,” he said. “I’ve seen shingles enough that if they can afford it, they should be vaccinated.”
Sigler and Quinlan both said that shingles is life-altering and even when the skin rash heals, the pain can remain for years. Barb Kaatman, St. Louis junior, said that after seeing her father go through the pain of shingles, she would recommend the vaccination.
“Knowing that a shot could have prevented him from all of that, I don’t see any reason not to get vaccinated,” Kaatman said.
Follow-up studies are being conducted by Merck and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who did the initial study on the vaccination before its release, to find out how long the vaccination lasts and whether it will require a booster.

A new state oral health plan is improving the dental health education and services within communities, schools, the elderly and the underserved across Kansas. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment recently released the plan at the Oral Health Kansas annual conference in Wichita. The goal is to provide access to education and services to all Kansans in the future. Parts of the plan will take longer than others. The plan lays the framework for improving oral health care statewide.
Katherine Weno, director of the Office of Oral Health, says the plan only took about a year to come up with – the officials started it last fall. “We started with a site team from a group of dental directors across the nation,” Weno said, “To help improve the infrastructure of oral health in Kansas.” Meetings were held over the spring and summer with private groups.
Weno says there are definitely some challenges to following the plan that will improve the oral health in Kansas, but some objectives will be easier to complete. “We have a long term goal to help the underserved,” Weno said. Short term plans include a data collection system and making sure oral health screenings are completed in every school. “I can see that happening in the next two or three years,” Weno said. According to Kansas law, public schools are required to give oral health screens every year. This is not necessarily the case in all public schools.
Mary Baskett, executive director of Kansas Head Start Association, says her association would like to make sure all young children are getting a full range on education, prevention and treatment services. The vision of Kansas Head Start Association is: Kansas is the best state in the nation in which to raise a family. In order to keep their vision, the association has a mission statement - KHSA strengthens early learning programs through advocacy, education and leadership.
Kansas Head Start Association wants to make sure that all Kansans have a source, whether it is a private dentist, a dentist clinic or a dental hygienist with an extended care permit (ECP). Dental hygienists with an ECP extend their services when people do not have access to the other options. According to the Kansas Oral Health Plan, dental hygienists are being provided educational opportunities about ECP practice and encouraged to get their ECP. “We want young children to have tremendous opportunity for access,” Baskett said.
The new plan gives realistic actions that the school teachers can take to incorporate oral health into all areas of education. Oral Health Kansas also came up with a set of strategies that classroom teachers can use to educate different age groups on dental health and how to incorporate it into every subject. Oral Health Kansas and Kansas Coordinate School Health, an approach to help young children establish healthful behaviors and attitudes, will implement oral health education into the curricula for all grades, kindergarten through twelfth.
Carol Carnahan, school nurse at Hillcrest and Cordley Elementary Schools, used to do a lot more with educating the school children about dental health and taking care of themselves. She says there is not enough time anymore, so the classroom teachers do the educating on oral health. In February, her schools participate in Dental Health Month, which raises awareness about oral health. “We have posters up around the school and I order the packets,” Carnahan said. Crest sponsors Dental Health Month and sends schools free toothbrushes and videos so that children can learn about the importance of taking care of themselves, even at such a young age.
The Kansas Oral Health Plan is the first statewide, comprehensive action plan aiming at oral health in Kansas. This plan will organize oral health efforts across the state to protect the health and quality of life for every Kansan.

By Rustin Dodd

Edward Canonge quickly walked through the door of a small beige building at the corner of 19th and Moodie streets in Lawrence.

“Umm, I’m here to pick up my medicine,” Canonge said.

Canonge, who suffers from the viral disease Hepatitis C, is one of 12,000 Douglas County residents without health insurance. On that day, Canonge made a visit to Health Care Access, a clinic in Lawrence that offers free health care to Douglas County residents who do not have private or governmental health care insurance.

“It’s the only way I could my medicine without insurance,” Canonge said.

And while Health Care Access reported in its 2006 annual report that 12,000 Douglas County residents live without health care – 12 percent of the county population – the National Women’s Law Center released its National Report Card on Women’s Health on Oct. 18. The report card issued the state of Kansas a failing grade for its population of Kansas women without health insurance. The report said that 13.9 percent of women in Kansas do not have health insurance.

Nikki King, executive director of Health Care Access, said the National Women’s Law center report highlighted a problem she has witnessed for years. That is why Health Care Access, which has been around since 1988, held its first annual women’s health fare on Oct. 6. King said that if the clinic can reach out to women, then those women are more likely to bring in their children and spouses.

“In families, women are the most likely to seek out health care,” King said.
According to its yearly report, Health Care Access served more than 1300 patients in 2006, a far cry from the humble beginnings of Health Care Access in 1988.

“Health Care Access was created to bridge the gap in the health care system,” King said.

King said in order for people to be eligible for Health Care Access, they must not be covered by private or governmental insurance programs.

Dr. Wayne Osness is a former chair of the Department of Health and Physical Education at the University of Kansas. He is also on the Health Care Access board of directors. He said he’s seen what Health Care Access can do for a person.

“I think a good example is the diabetic,” Osness said. “Because if a diabetic is left unchecked, that person is going to have major health problems soon. And so to have them checked periodically and have proper medication is really critical. For that diabetic, it basically determines the quality of their life.”

Diabetes was the second most diagnosed illness at Health Care Access in 2006. Also in the top five were hypertension, breast cancer screening, sinusitis and asthma.

“We’re moving more into chronic management. People with diabetes; people with high pressure; they can go back and get their medicine and be checked periodically,” the president of the Health Care Access board of directors, Donna Osness, said.

But despite having 30 to 40 volunteer physicians, a United Way and private donor supported budget of $150,000, and medicine donated by pharmaceutical companies, King said Health Care Access only reaches about 10 percent of the residents in Douglas County without health care. King said some people that don’t go, or simply don’t know about Health Care Access. One man’s story stands out most to King. For more than a year, a man lived thinking that he had testicular cancer. But when the man finally found out about Health Care Access, he made an appointment and found out it was actually a lymph problem.

“So he had been living with this possible diagnosis for a year knowing that he had no way to treat it, and that he could be on his last day any day,” King said. “Its those sort of stories that are really touching and show that this isn’t right that they don’t have access to health care.”

For a person like Canonge, an unemployed former member of the military, Health Care Access is a means to live a normal life. But King said the original founders of the clinic never anticipated that Health Care Access would be needed in 2007.

“They thought they’d just need this agency for a couple of years until the health Care system got figured out,” King said. “But he we are 19 years old, with no end in sight.”
Osness and his wife, Donna, both agreed that no easy solutions exist for the 12,000 people in Douglas County and 13.9 percent of Kansas’s women without health care. But Osness said the national and local health care crises are issues that need to be discussed.

“I think there are way to many people that have health care needs that are left unmet,” Osness said. “More important than that, those that are left untreated create a large amount of human suffering.”

The National Women’s Law Center released its last women’s health report in 2004
and will release its next report in 2010.

Evondi Weston, 8, starts her bedtime routine at 8:30 p.m. She showers, gets her pajamas on, and brushes her teeth. Her mom and dad, Julie and Alex, tuck her in for the night. When Evondi gets up in the morning, she goes through her morning routine of getting dressed, brushing her hair, and brushing her teeth.
The Weston’s are one family of Douglas County residents who have health and dental insurance. Because of this, Evondi is able to visit the dentist on a regular basis of at least twice a year.
“I think it (going to the dentist) is pretty fun,” Evondi Weston said.
The children of families who do not have health insurance are not always as lucky as Evondi. By third grade, more than 50 percent of children experience tooth decay according to a Kansas Office of Oral Health report from 2004.

Starting this fall, DCDC signed agreements with the Lawrence school district to provide mobile dental care to some of the local elementary schools. Julie Branstrom, executive director of the Douglas County Dental Clinic (DCDC), wants the clinic to reach and provide care for the children who are unable to see a dentist on a regular basis.
Branstrom said the focus of the program now is on the local elementary schools that have the highest percentages of low-income families. So far this fall, the clinic provided services for students at several elementary schools: Prairie Park, Kennedy, and Hillcrest. Schwegler Elementary is in the program and the clinic will visit on December 4 and 6 to provide services to the students who qualify. Families that qualify for Medicaid, Healthwave, or the district’s free/reduced lunch program are eligible for the DCDC’s services.
The hygienist that holds the Extended Care Permit (ECP) is Ginny Clark and the ECP allows her to perform screenings, cleanings, fluoride applications, and sealants to qualifying students at the schools without dental supervision. She also teaches the students personal oral hygiene. Branstrom said the reduced-cost for a cleaning plus fluoride is $47 and the cost for sealants is approximately $20 per tooth. Clark will not seal a tooth that has obvious decay and the student should see a dentist at the clinic.
The DCDC bought the mobility equipment with a grant provided by the Delta Dental of Kansas Foundation, Branstrom said. She did not reveal the amount of the grant. Branstrom hopes to provide, eventually, mobile dentistry to all local elementary, junior high, and high schools because oral health is important to a person’s overall health.
“Pain and infection hamper a student’s ability to learn, socialize, and respond enthusiastically to new ideas and information,” Branstrom said. “In short, when oral disease goes undetected and/or untreated, the student’s ability to learn is curtailed.”
Angie Koenig, the R.N. for both Schwegler and Langston Hughes elementary schools, is in charge of scheduling appointments for Schwegler’s students to receive dental care during school hours. Koenig said the clinic would spend approximately 20 minutes per student, and with her scheduling the times the students will not miss too much time in class. She says oral care is important and needs to start before the student begins school, and a child’s learning suffers when oral hygiene is unavailable.
“When a child has a toothache, their mind is with the tooth and with the pain. They can’t concentrate in class,” Koenig said.
Branstrom, Koenig, and Julie Weston said the mobility program is a good idea because it allows accessibility for the students to receive the preventive oral care treatments. Lawrence families now have the ability to have their children seen by a dentist when before they may not have had that option. Julie Weston said that not everyone is at a place in his or her life to either afford health insurance or lack the time and transportation needed to receive the care they need.
“The populations of kids that I teach often don’t get to the dentist or the doctor. Bringing the dentist or the doctor to them is a great idea,” Julie Weston said.

A recent study by the Commonwealth Fund found more than 13 million young adults between the ages of 19 and 29 are without health insurance. Kansas’ laws allow students to remain under their parents’s insurance policies as long as they are enrolled in school. But that doesn’t mean every student enrolled has health insurance.

Some colleges and universities require students to show proof of health insurance before enrolling in classes. But Mai Do, marketing coordinator at Watkins Health Center, thinks requiring proof of insurance for students entering the University of Kansas may deter some students from enrolling.

“I think it is an individual decision,” Do said. “We don’t know everybody’s situation, and we don’t want to impede their access to education because they can’t get insurance.”

Students at the University pay a health fee as part of their semester student fees. This fee gives students access to free doctor visits. But this fee doesn’t cover secondary services such as lab tests and prescription medication. Do said the University strives to provide competitive rates. But it is important for students to have health insurance because of how fast medical expenses can add up.

The Kansas Board of Regents offers a health insurance policy for students enrolled in Kansas’ public universities. The cost of the plan for undergraduate students is $965 per year. A student must be enrolled in a minimum of six credit hours to be eligible.

But a customer service agent for United Health Group, the company that underwrites the policy, said the University’s policy doesn’t include the option of paying the premium monthly. She said the best option available for students concerned about the cost was to pay each semester separately. This breaks down to $396 payments at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters, and $174 for the summer.

Allie Denning, Salina junior, said she can’t imagine paying for health care on top of tuition.

“I bet for many students $400 at the beginning of the semester would be more than they could afford,” Denning said. “The temptation to use the money for something else would probably keep many students from purchasing the policy.”

But Denning doesn’t have to worry about paying for her health insurance. She is still covered by his parents’s policy. But for those without insurance, other options exist for student health insurance.

Eligible students can petition the Office of Student Financial Aid to adjust their cost of attendance to receive additional loans for education-related expenses. This could include buying a computer and software, buying required materials for classes or helping with child-care expenses. According to the OSFA, a student could also petition to receive money for health care costs.

Stephanie Covington, associate director at the OSFA, said she encourages students to talk with a financial adviser at the OSFA about their options if they find themselves without health insurance.

“I would definitely encourage students to come and talk to a staff member,” Covington said. “We never want a student to drop out of school thinking there are no other options.”

Covington said students must meet certain criteria to be eligible for additional student loans through government lenders. The most important factor is that the student is eligible for aid and hasn’t taken out all the loans he or she is eligible for.

According to the Commonwealth Fund, around 40 percent of the uninsured young adults are from households living under the poverty line. Those students from families under the poverty line are also ones who would be eligible for financial aid to cover health care.

Diane Pope, a registered maternal-child-health nurse at the Douglas County Health Department, said the most important thing is for students to know their options.

“The health department offers services for students,” Pope said. “But these are limited. Most services we offer are for family planning or students with children.”

Pope said students unable to afford insurance could file for a medical card through Social Rehabilitation Services, but students must be working or actively job-hunting to qualify. Parents’s income for students 18 and older is not factored in when SRS is deciding eligibility. So, Pope said, many students with at least some income could qualify.

Private insurance agencies often offer low-cost health insurance policies for students. Two clinics in Lawrence offer affordable medical services for the uninsured: The Leo Center and Health Care Access.

Pope suggests talking to the hospital business department if a student finds his or herself burdened with large medical bills because they offer services to help make expenses manageable. But with the rising cost of medical care, Pope said, it is best for students to make sure they find a way to get good health insurance.

It’s basic, junior-high science. Carbon Dioxide (CO2)+Water+ Light= happy, healthy plants. So theoretically, increased amounts of CO2 in the air will yield super plants. But Joy Ward, an assistant professor in the department of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Kansas, said sometimes too much of a good thing isn’t good.

Ward and Clint Springer, a post doctoral researcher who works in her lab, have found that despite convention, increased levels of CO2 in the atmosphere could cause plants to flower later versus earlier.

“There does not seem to be any particular pattern,” Springer said. “What we found in this study is there is a lot of variability in the responses. And to generalize those, there is no single factor that dictates whether a plant will have accelerated or delayed flowering. We uncovered a big question.”

Ward and Springer recently published a literature review, “Flowering time and elevated atmospheric CO2,” on this phenomenon in the botany journal the “New Phytologist.” Although the review was mostly a synthesis of other researchers’ work, which Springer and Ward said is the most comprehensive synthesis of this subject to date, the two contributed work of their own to the paper as well. Editors at the “New Phytologist” are also reviewing a new article on the topic by Ward and Springer. If “New Phytologist” selects their paper for publication, it will appear in the journal early next year.

In their papers, Ward and Springer looked mostly at how elevated levels of atmospheric CO2 affect the genetic and molecular mechanisms that control plant flowering. Ward and Springer also acknowledged the implications their work could have on agricultural crops. They hope to incorporate their work into crop breeding in the future. Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring gas however additional CO2 is created through the burning of petroleum based fossil fuels and coal.

Ward said people need to be more aware of the effects rising levels of CO2 emissions are having on the environment.

“People are well aware that global warming is affecting plant development timing,” Ward said. “We’ve ignored the factor of carbon dioxide.”

For their own research, Ward and Springer collected genotypes, or breeds, of the Arabidopsis thaliana, the mouse-ear cress plant, from 10 different geographical regions around the world. They grew the plants in environmentally controlled growth chambers at the current atmospheric level of CO2, 380 parts per million, or ppm, and at the level they predict CO2 will be at in 50-80 years, 700 ppm.

Consistent with other researchers’ studies, Springer and Ward found that carbohydrates, sugars and starches, play a role in plants’ development. Ward said sugars sometimes act as a signaling molecule for plants to flower. Springer said that inconsistency in the flowering times of the plants suggests that plants of the same species across the world are evolving differently.

In the future, Ward said she will focus on the evolutionary factors affecting plant development in her lab and Springer will focus on the molecular mechanisms in his new lab at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pa., where he recently accepted a professorship. Springer said they hope to pinpoint why and how plants are reacting to CO2 and apply their research to other plants that have a commonality in their make-up.

According to Ward and Springer’s paper, few studies have examined crop flowering-time responses to elevated levels of CO2. In the existing studies, 80 percent of those crops showed accelerated flowering times.

“That’s down the road a ways,” Springer said. “Once we understand how genetics play a role in this, that will be more for people who are interested in how it affects crops.”

But researchers in the department of geography are concerned now. Nate Brunsell, assistant professor of geography, said that plants would have to take in more water to counter the increased amounts of CO2. He said this could present a problem because plants return moisture to the air when they photosynthesize, or grow.

“This might increase rainfall in other places with so much water in the air,” he said. “You might have more of an impact from the water. A little bit of warming but cutting off all of the rainfall?”

Brunsell said the Gulf of Mexico creates most of Kansas’s moisture, so researchers are unsure of Kansas’s agricultural future. Johannes Feddema, professor of geography, agreed.

“There is a lot of uncertainty in the water component,” Feddema said. “Although generally as you warm up, it gets drier––especially for Kansas.”

Brunsell said he expects these environmental issues to begin affecting students’ lives in the near future. He said Georgia has already put restrictions on how much water its citizens can use every day.

“You also have a food security issue, if we heat things up and lose more water what are farmers going to do?” he said. “Change crops? Use more water? When you use more water for agriculture, then there is less for municipal and recreation uses.”

Kees van der Veen, an associate professor in the department of geography, said he expects another Dust Bowl in Kansas like the one in the 1930s, only a lot longer.

“The level of agriculture will have to be scaled back significantly because of less water availability,” he said.

He was also worried that increased levels of water and CO2 in plants will cause plants to grow more in the areas we don’t use.

“ If we take a potato and it gets more productive in the leaves, that is not going to do us any good because we don’t eat the leaves,” he said.

Brunsell said even though it seems like the effects of increased CO2 and temperatures have not affected Kansas, people need to realize that they have.

“Everything in global warming starts on a small scale. It’s all happening very locally, how we impact our environment.”

Van der Veen agreed with Brunsell and said a lot of environmental stress factors are going to become apparent in this generation’s lifetime.

“It’s sort of gone beyond the academic ivory tower,” he said. “Look at the news, CNN and whatnot. We see the signs all around us.”

In their synthesis, Ward and Springer already found that sorghum showed a delayed development time. Beers such as Guinness and Anheuser-Busch’s “Redbridge” contain sorghum in its syrup form––but more importantly, according to the National Sweet Sorghum Producers and Processors Association’s Web site, sorghum is a key ingredient in cattle feed and is a major crop in Kansas.

Currently, CO2 emissions are not regulated in the U.S. This could change in the future, though, as scientists like Ward and Springer uncover research suggesting a need for caps on CO2 emissions.

The State of Kansas has already taken a controversial step in this direction by refusing to allow Westar Energy to build a coal plant in Holcomb. Rod Bremby, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, first rejected the plan and Governor Kathleen Sebelius upheld his decision.

But Springer said his and Ward’s work is not only important to the future of Kansas, but also to the future world.

“Only a handful of people will go to a database and pull this article out,” Springer said. “In the developing nations of the world, this will have major impacts. The U.S. is more buffered because of our wealth.”

BY FRANCESCA CHAMBERS
fchambers@kansan.com

Don’t limit tomorrow’s choice

Sachiko Miyakawa

If you use a restroom on the main floor of the Kansas Union, you’ll see a new paper towel machine that senses the motion of your hands and gives you a paper towel automatically.

Wayne Pearse, the building engineer of the KU Memorial Unions, said the hands-free paper towel machines would keep restroom users from consuming too much paper. He plans to install the paper towel machines throughout the whole building.

Pearse said he wanted to reduce costs at the Kansas Union. He also said he hoped students would learn about sustainability and change their behaviors.

“The hope is, with all of us, that they will learn that I only need this much paper to dry my hands,” He said. “We’d like to think we’re helping their cultural change.”

Pearse recently received the staff Sustainability Leadership Award. The KU Center for Sustainability recognized his contribution to create the environmentally friendly Kansas Union. Installing the new paper towel machines is one of the projects that he and the Union staff have worked on to conserve resources at the Kansas Union. The Kansas Union is the second largest building on campus, but its energy consumption ranks only 11th, according to the Web site of the Center for Sustainability.

Pearse’s effort affects many people on campus.

David Mucci, director of the KU Memorial Unions, said about 7,500 people come to the Kansas Union each weekday during the semester.

Jeff Severin, director of the Center for Sustainability, said Pease’s idea improved energy conservation. He also enhanced the recycling system that has reduced landfill waste.

The Union’s heating and cooling bills have also been lower, thanks to software called the EMS Scheduler, a product of Streamside Solutions. Before the Kansas Union and Burge Union installed the system in 1998, people sat down at a workstation and controlled the temperatures of the buildings themselves. The new system saves labor. Now, if you reserve a meeting room or ballroom at the Kansas Union, the air conditioner or heater automatically comes on and shuts off at the appointed time. The system reduces the building’s energy use because the heater or air conditioner isn’t running while rooms are not in use.

Pearse said the Kansas Union has saved about $26,000 for electricity and 500 hours of labor a year using the system, which cost only $10,000 to install. The two Unions were the first buildings in the United States to use the EMS Scheduler, and they were still the only buildings on campus using the system.

If you arrive earlier or stay later than your reservation time, the heater will be off.

Pearse said people sometimes came into a room when the heater and air conditioner were off and complained about the temperature.

“There’s no reason for a heater to be running if nobody’s in the room,” he said. “I would imagine on campus there are people who expect their lab or their office to be conditioned for them all the time in case they come in. That’s the mindset that has to change.”

Pearse said he would always look for new ideas to encourage sustainability at the Kansas Union.

Pearse install waterless urinals in Jayhawk Central, a student union at the Edwards Campus two years ago. Instead of flushing water, the urinals use a cartridge that grabs liquid going down and keeps odor from coming back. Each cartridge costs $18. Each waterless urinal saves approximately 60,000 gallons of water annually.

He said he planned to install the urinals for the Kansas Union in a year or two. But ten times more people use the restroom at the Kansas Union than the one at Jayhawk Central. Pearse is not sure how long each cartridge will last at the Union. The urinals won’t be successful if replacing the cartridges costs more than is saved on the water bill.

Pearse and his coworker, Kirby Ostrander, the Union custodial supervisor, also initiated the use of green cleaning products. Employees clean the building using a detergent made from oranges that is harmless for the environment. Instead of regular cloths, they also use micro-fibers, which pick up more dust and need less detergent.

“I want this world to be good for my kids,” Pearse said. “My great-great-great-grand-children that I’ll never see, if I was to find out there’s nothing left for them because of how we act, that would be terrible. We have got to learn not to be so wasteful.”

The Center for Sustainability at the University opened in February to address the environmental and sustainability issues on campus. The goals of the Center include educating people on campus and finding ways to save money in campus operations.

Severin said the Center should also provide information and research opportunities to students and faculty who are interested in environmentalism.

“We’d just like to really see sustainability become a core part of what the campus does all the time, rather than kind of special interest or something that only a certain people care about,” said Stacey White, director of academic programs at the KU Center for Sustainability and associate professor of urban planning.

The Center created its first Sustainability Leadership Awards to celebrate Campus Sustainability Day on Oct. 24 at the University. Several students and faculty received the award besides Pearse.

White said she hoped the Center would host the awards annually.

“There are so many people who are doing really good work on campus related to sustainability,” White said. A lot of times, they aren’t recognized for that. So we’d like to serve to call attention to that good work.”

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest statistics, “11,820 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2003, and 3,919 women died from the disease that same year.” For the past fifty years, physicians have used the pap smear test to find abnormal cells that can lead to cervical cancer. Women all over the United States get pap smears yearly to help reduce their risk of getting cervical cancer through the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is the leading cause for cervical cancer.

Now, a relatively new test promises to be more accurate than the pap smear in the early detection of cancerous and precancerous cells. On October 18th, the New England Journal of Medicine published research regarding the DNA/HPV test, which uses molecular technology to detect HPV.

“It is a very exciting test that will give us more specifics. It is more accurate than traditional pap testing,” Dr. Carolyn Johnson, KU’s Student Health Services Department of Gynecology, said. “The pap smear, which is about 55 percent accurate, depends on cytotechnology, looking at the cells and seeing if they look abnormal. It’s more subjective. The DNA/HPV, which is 94 percent accurate, is more black and white.”

This new test may not be the answer for much of KU’s female student population. Although student health services perform the DNA/HPV test at Watkins Memorial Health Center, Johnson does not recommend it for traditional college-aged students. According to her, the test is not recommended for women under the age of 30 as a primary screening device.

“Young women are often exposed to many types of HPV. The immune system will naturally clear it without us ever knowing,” Johnson said. “If we use a more detailed test and find the HPV, it will just cause worry. Unnecessary further testing will be done and will cost a lot of money.”

Dr. Steven Bruner, Lawrence Family Medicine and Obstetrics, said that HPV is necessary to get cervical cancer, but most people who get HPV never get cervical cancer. Agreeing with Dr. Johnson, he said the DNA/HPV test is not recommended as a primary screening tool for women under the age of 30. It can be used, he said, alongside the traditional pap smear where circumstances warrant.

“There has been a progression of the use of this test since it’s been discovered,” Bruner said. “Some pap smears are in the gray area, the fudge factor that may show abnormal cells. It’s our practice to use the DNA/HPV as a tie breaker for these tests.”

The DNA/HPV test uses colposcopy, magnifying the cervix, to take a closer look at the abnormalities. Burner said doctors then biopsy the abnormal cells. If they are precancerous, the patient receives further treatment. Cytotechnologist and anatomic pathology section supervisor at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, Dr. Scott Mersmann, said HPV/DNA testing is most commonly used in deciding what the next step is after an abnormal pap smear.

“A small group of women are constantly positive with HPV,” Mersmann said. “An even smaller group gets cervical cancer. The HPV test helps decide which women are at greater risk. It helps decide whether the doctor needs to keep an eye on it and what actions to take.”

Mersmann said doctors can use the same cells extracted from the pap smear to perform additional HPV/DNA testing. This allows for quicker results. Not all women are lucky enough to have additional testing done in a short amount of time. A University of Kansas senior who wished to remain anonymous said she has to return to the doctor for further testing.

“It really scared me,” she said. “I got a call from the doctor saying my pap smear results showed dysplasia, my cells were abnormal. They said I had to come back in six months to have another pap smear. I have to wait until then to know how serious it is. Now I’m stuck waiting and worrying.” The student said she wishes a more detailed test could have been done.
Johnson said she would recommend the more sensitive HPV/DNA test for a woman who is more than 30 years old and in a stable sexual relationship. She said women might prefer the test because even though the cells are collected in the same way, if the test came back normal it would not have to be done again for three years. The decrease in the frequency of the test has not been officially recommended and is still tentative. Johnson said she has some concerns regarding the decrease in frequency.

“Women will need to remember that they still need to have breast exams and check ups,” Johnson said. “Just because you don’t need a pap smear every year does not mean you don’t need to see a doctor every year.”

Another concern Johnson has is the expensive price of the DNA/HPV test. She said since research is still being done, insurance companies might not cover the test. Therefore, before the test gets widely utilized the insurance companies will need to get on board.

Although the DNA/HPV test is a more accurate way of testing for the virus, the test is not meant to replace the pap smear as a primary tool for testing. Because of the sensitive nature of the test and subjective age groups, the DNA/HPV test may never be the primary testing tool. Johnson said each woman is different and will require different tests.

“The important thing is for a woman to have a good conversation with her doctor about the best test for her. Women need to decide what is best for them.”

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It has been no easy task for the University of Kansas Ice Hockey Club to find a place to practice and play games. Kansas’ warm climate makes it nearly impossible to play the sport outdoors on natural ice, even in the winter, and hockey’s popularity in Lawrence has not yet reached a level that warrants building an ice or skating rink.

For several years the team has had to commute more than 30 minutes to the nearest ice hockey rink to play. But The Student Recreation and Fitness Center plans to add a synthetic rubber surface surrounded by a dasher board to its facility this spring that could provide an alternative place for the team to practice at home.

“The fact that there’s not ice limits our abilities, but we could do beginning of the season practices and walk-throughs there the first three weeks of school,” said Nick Hantge, Hutchison, Minn., senior and captain of the Hockey Club.

Currently, the club practices and holds games at Ice Midwest, 135th St. and Quivera rd. in Overland Park. Ice Midwest charges the Club $270 per hour to use the rink.
The club practices for an hour and a half, two times a week. It will also have games twice a week beginning September 21. A game lasts around three hours, and the club and its opponent split the ice rental cost. In all, the club pays more than $6,500 a month to use the rink during their game season, which lasts until February.

The Hockey Club is in the first tier, the highest tier, of the University’s club sports budget, meaning it receives more money from the University than most club sports, but that does not mean the club doesn’t need more money.

“Every penny of the money we receive from the University goes towards ice time,” Hantge said. “We all grew up playing, so most of the players use their own equipment.”

Not only would the synthetic surface provide the Hockey Club with the money to buy new, matching equipment, the club would be able to practice more often.

“Right now we do conditioning called dry lands–plyometrics and sprints–on the days when we don’t practice,” Hantge said. “Actually doing hockey drills would really help out.”

Ryne Tusten, Olathe senior and former president of the club, who now works at the Recreation Center, said though the team could practice on the new surface, it would be more ideal for roller hockey.

“The Recreation Center is hoping to get roller hockey intramurals, but the more people playing the sport and liking it, the better for us,” Tusten said.

Hantge has similar hopes that the new surface would give the club a greater awareness on campus and eventually lead to the addition of an ice surface in the future, which the club needs to become a Division I team.

Unfortunately, the team will not be able to use the surface until the end of the hockey season Mary Chappell, recreation services director, said.

“The synthetic surface will be one of the last surfaces to go down,” Chappell said. “Other structural things have to come first. Benchmark wise, the surface probably will not be available for use until January.”

Chappell said that the new synthetic surface would be similar to the surface of the center’s track.

“When we built the wooden floor we knew we couldn’t use it for these types of sports,” she said. “We want to give the students another type of play surface.”

The Hockey Club’s first game is against the University of Iowa on September 21 and the time is TBA. For more information about the club visit www.kuhockey.com.

By Francesca Chambers
Kansan writer Francesca Chambers can be reached at fchambers@kansan.com

The members of the Scenic RiverWay Community Association, or the SRCA, have only one goal: opposing development that would destroy the safe, peaceful and beautiful environment surrounding their homes, which are near the intersection of Interstate 70 and K-10.

Until recently, the association’s members had enjoyed a three-year relief from their duties. That is, until Lawrence developer Duane Schwada requested to have his 154-acre agricultural property near their homes included in the industrial chapter of Horizon 2020, Lawrence’s comprehensive growth plan.

The group only learned of Schwada’s request a few days before the city commission was set to approve Horizon 2020. However Janette Funk, who is the organizer of the SRCA, was able to quickly rally her neighbors and fellow SRCA members, and at the commission meeting, the group requested that Schwada’s property be left out of Horizon 2020 for several reasons, including the lack of time the public was had for input.

The group suggested that a separate plan for their area be developed, and the commission agreed. The commission voted 3-2 to accept the version of Horizon 2020 that did not include Schwada’s property in the industrial district. Commissioners Mike Amyx and Mike Dever rejected the plan as a whole.

“The concern that the majority had was that this was adding a rather large parcel of land to the industrial chapter of Horizon 2020 without an actual plan, and it is not in our urban growth area,” Mayor Sue Hack said.

The commissioners gave their staff 60 days to develop an area plan for Schwada’s property and the properties adjacent to it. Once the commissioners’ staff has developed the plan, the Lawrence-Douglas Planning Commission will review it before it is sent to the city commission for approval. The city commission then plans to add the plan as a text amendment to Horizon 2020.

“This is a logical place for industrial/commercial development,” Hack said. “We just need to make sure that we do this in the right order and having it planned and then included in the Comprehensive Plan, Horizon 2020, is the best way to go.”

This is not the only time the SRCA has had to battle Schwada. In 2004, Schwada asked the county commission to reclassify the same piece of property as an industrial district.

The county commission denied Schwada’s request, which needed unanimous approval, on a 2-1 vote with Bob Johnson in the negative, because the area is outside Lawrence’s city limits and growth areas. But the members of the SRCA, knew that eventually, Schwada would attempt to have his property reclassified again, and at some point his request would be granted.

“A lot of gentlemen on the commissions are developers,” said Loren Funk, a member of the SRCA. “Its all about creating jobs and money. They don’t care about the environment or homes.”

In a recent letter to Mayor Hack, Schwada’s attorney, Jane M. Eldredge, explained why her client has continued to pursue industrializing said property and why the city commission should allow him to do so.

“The site’s size, single ownership, topography, location out of the flood of the plain, adjacency to the Urban Growth Area, and its outstanding access to the transportation network all make it ideal for certain industrial and employment-related potential employees.”

Marguerite Ermeling, a member of the SRCA and a former planning commissioner, said the association members do not necessarily oppose development in the area; they just want their voices heard.

“If they had accepted this letter and added him onto the map, it would have disallowed public input,” she said. “Nobody has an argument about it not being a good place to develop, but it’s not the right time. We are looking for a procedure by which the public can be a part of the decision.”

Ermeling also said that it is hard to counter classifications of properties once they are on the map and that is why the group members think a comprehensive plan for their area is better than prematurely adding it to the Industrial Chapter of Horizon 2020.

“There are many ways to grow, but growing by design is the best way, which comes with public input,” she said. “Honestly, if we grew by design, we would have a lot less of these fights.”

Ermeling also cited other problems with the area, such as lack of infrastructure to cross Interstate 70 and jump K-10 and the amount of money it would cost to lay water pipes so far away from the city. Tom Allen, another member of the SRCA, voiced similar concerns. He said that currently, the rural water district has an excess of water, but it would run of water if their area were developed.

Allen also said depending on what Schwada wants to build, Schwada would have to install put in a cesspool, which could face Allen’s land and lower his property value.
Janette Funk was also concerned about the possibility of Schwada installing a cesspool on his land.

“Who’s going to monitor that?” she said. “It would be privately owned. Who would monitor what chemicals are put in that? If you look at the land by K-10, there’s a lot of chemicals in the ground that have to be cleaned up. Do we really want another spot like that?”

Funk said that vigorously opposing Schwada’s development requests in their area is important to preserving her and her neighbor’s lifestyles.

“It only takes one,” she said. “Its beautiful where we live, and he could ruin it.”

Francesca Chambers

When he was a little boy, Richard Osburn never imagined he would one day own an adult novelty store. He assumed after he graduated, he would work at the munitions plant in what used to be Sunflower Village, east of Lawrence, between DeSoto and Eudora. Just like his father, and all of his friends’ fathers.

But now, more that 36 years later, he is the owner of Naughty But Nice, 1741 Massachusetts St., an adult novelty store that sells everything from sexy Halloween costumes and platform shoes, to fake penises and vending machine pornography.

Before he opened Naughty But Nice, Osburn was the manager of The Flamingo Club, 501 N. 9th St., which is a gentlemen’s club. His wife worked as an exotic dancer at the club. Osburn said his wife and the other exotic dancers used to complain about the high prices at Priscilla’s, 1206 W 23rd St. He said the dancers inspired him to open his own adult novelty store as an alternative location to shop.

“”Having been in the sex business for so long gave us an insight into what kind of things entertainers needed, especially because its kind of a niche market,” he said.

So, Osburn and his wife opened Naughty But Nice, which he said was he and his wife’s plan to get away from working in the entertainment business. But 13 months after the couple began work on the store, his wife decided owning an adult novelty store was not the kind of life she was interested in either. She filed for a divorce and moved back to Minnesota where her parents lived. At the same time, Osburn found himself in an extremely costly legal battle with the city, a battle that is still taking place today and could force him to close down his store within the coming months.

Richard’s brother, Robert, who works at Naughty But Nice part-time, had nothing but good things to say about his brother.

“You’d have a problem finding someone in this town who doesn’t like my brother,” Robert said. “He’s well-known and well-liked. He’s my brother, but I’d like him even if he wasn’t.”

Jacey, an exotic dancer at The Pink Flamingo Club and a Lawrence junior, said she has shopped at Naughty But Nice since she began dancing six years ago.

“It has more of a hometown feel,” she said. “I know this sounds weird coming from someone in my position, but sometimes you go into a sex shop and it’s weird. But he talks to you and makes you feel more comfortable.”

When Richard Osburn was 12, the munitions plant began scaling back its operation. His family was forced to relocate to Lawrence. When he graduated high school in 1978, Osburn went to work full time. For the next 14 years he worked at various place in town, mostly as a bartender, before landing the manager position at The Flamingo Club.

“Money wise, I capped out,” Osburn said. “And my wife and I had a daughter and I knew we were likely to have other children. We could accommodate that only by starting this business.”

Osburn was right. A few years later, Osburn and his wife had their second child, a son, who is now 6. Osburn’s daughter is now 10. Osburn said he used to see them seven or eight times a year, but now he sees them three to four times a year for a only couple weeks at a time. As for his children’s knowledge of the store’s products, Osburn said they had none.

“They are completely unaffected by it,” he said. “They have no curiosity to what it is. They know it’s a store for grown ups, and that’s about it.”

In the past, when business was good, Osburn said he worked only about 20-28 hours a week in the store. Now, he works 70 hours.

“I’m in an expendable cash position,” he said. “When business is bad, I’m one of the first to get cut out.”

Osburn said he began playing online poker to pass the increased time at work.

“You can only watch so much TV, and then it gets old,” he said. “Except for football Sundays and Saturday, when college football is on. I’m a homer. A homer all the way. The Chiefs and Kansas.”

Osburn said he makes about $100 a week playing Texas hold’em online, but that he plays only in low-buying tournaments. That way if he gets busy, he can walk away from the game without losing a large amount of money.

Robert’s girlfriend of eight years, Vicki Topolewski, said Richard is also a good cook.

“Cooking is my hobby and we have to share” she said. “We have to split between Thanksgiving and Christmas because we both want to cook.”

Vicki has known Richard for more than 11 years. She said when he first decided to open the store, she was concerned and even embarrassed, but after having worked in the store herself on multiple occasions, she has realized that most of the people who shop there are not perverts, they are couples looking to spice up their love life.
After working in an adult novelty store for eight years, Osburn has had several comical experiences with customers.

A couple times of year, Richard and his brother host “toy parties” in peoples’ homes. Osburn said most of his clients don’t mind the men hosting their parties, but sometimes they receive special requests.

“There was a rather large group of African American women one time who wanted my brother, and they had a ball,” he said. “They didn’t want a woman. In fact, we even did a second party for them.”

Despite certain citizens’ beliefs that Osburn’s business, and others like it, corrupt the minds of children and encourage crime, Osburn said he considers himself a good neighbor to the other businesses around his store and a good citizen as well.

“If they [adult stores] did not succeed, then they would not exist,” he said. “ So learn to live with them.”

Osburn will face the city in court again next week. The city has told Osburn that he has to relocate his business to a highway in town, or they will shut down his business. He said the city commission has already decided he is guilty, but that he hopes to appeal his case at the trial.